The pandemic-aggravated sperm donor shortage continues to plague the IVF industry with one of the leading Victorian clinics reporting that demand is outstripping supply by a factor of three to one.
Dr Genia Rozen, a fertility specialist at Melbourne IVF, said as sperm donations dropped during confinements, the demand for single women and same-sex couples continued to grow.
Melbourne IVF currently had three potential sperm donor recipients lined up for each donor assignment, he said.
Sarah Phillips’ son, Noah, was conceived with the help of sperm given. (Provided by: Sarah Phillips)
For the first time in years, the clinic introduced a waiting list during the pandemic.
“The last year or two we’ve had a waiting list, which varies depending on some factors, such as the type of treatment and the profile of the desired donor,” Rozen said.
He added that the time it took for donors to undergo medical checks and a quarantine period while re-testing donor sperm for infectious diseases meant that the effects of the pandemic on supply were still lingering.
About 3,000 unmarried Australian women have a baby with donor sperm each year.
“I pinch every day”
Because she had always wanted to be a mother, Melbourne Primary School teacher Sarah Phillips made a pact with herself: If she were still single at 36, she would start researching her options for doing it alone.
Noah was born in September last year, just as Victoria was slowly emerging from her last confinement. (Provided by: Sarah Phillips)
The now 39-year-old began donating sperm fertility treatment to Melbourne IVF in January 2020, just before the pandemic arrived.
After an emotionally exhausting journey of more than 18 months, which was briefly interrupted by a break in IVF treatments during the Melbourne confinement, baby Noah was born in September last year.
Phillips used sperm from three different donors during his fertility treatment.
She underwent two unsuccessful intrauterine inseminations, where the sperm is placed in the uterus through a small tube just before ovulation, with one donor and then five cycles of IVF with two more different donors.
While Phillips knew there was a shortage of donor sperm because many clinics had waiting lists, he said it was open to seeing the number of available sperm donors go down over a 12-month period.
“The list was getting shorter and shorter, from when I was choosing my original donor compared to when I chose my third donor, which was successful for me,” he said.
The growing shortage of donor sperm during their fertility treatments was revealing, Phillips said. (Provided by: Sarah Phillips)
“The first time I looked for a donor, I would say there were about 40 (donors) to choose from,” he said.
“The second time I looked, it had dropped to 25 or so, and then when I got to pick my final one, it was a lot shorter, probably 10 to 15.”
Phillips said the last eight months since Noah’s birth had been the best of his life.
Phillips says she will be eternally grateful to the donor who helped her become a mother. (Provided by: Sarah Phillips)
“To be honest, there are no words to tell you how good it is,” he said.
“I pinch myself every day. I look at him and think ‘how lucky I was that he’s mine.'”
“I’m very grateful and so happy to have done that.”
Sperm donation is altruistic in Australia, meaning it cannot be paid to donors except to offset their medical expenses.
Phillips said the donor who helped her conceive Noah had her “eternal gratitude.”
“It’s amazing that someone can be so kind and generous with someone they’ve never met,” he said.
Phillips said she would be open for Noah to contact him in the future, if she wishes.
Under a law introduced in Victoria in 2016, children conceived by a donor have the right to know the identity of their donor when they turn 18 years old.
National call for more donors
Last month, Australia’s largest IVF provider, Virtus Health, launched a campaign to address Australia’s sperm and egg shortages amid rising donor waiting lists across the country.
Rozen said Melbourne IFV, owned by Virtus Health, had been involved in the campaign, called “Life”. Pass on.’.
“It basically aims to bring the country together and encourage people to donate, raising awareness that many people have eggs and sperm that can literally change someone’s life by helping start a family,” he said.
Rozen said that as there was no financial incentive to donate sperm in Australia, it was often people who had direct experience with fertility issues who chose to donate.
Phillips said he openly tells his story of how Noah was conceived in hopes of helping other women learn about his options. (Provided by: Sarah Phillips)
“Usually it’s because they themselves have had a bit of infertility or they may have someone they know who has gone through fertility struggles that makes them think about it,” he said.
Phillips said he wanted anyone who was thinking about becoming a sperm donor to know that he had the power to make people’s lives and dreams come true.
“It’s no coincidence that Noah was here. It was a very deliberate, well-planned, long-awaited pregnancy and baby,” she said.
“It’s not a decision for anyone to take IVF lightly on their own and I think future children are in very, very good hands.”
Contact Journalist Emily McPherson at emcpherson@nine.com.au