Same sex female couple with baby

Fertility Treatment For Same Sex Couples

Sims IVF assists same-sex couples or individuals, needing a sperm donor, to help them have a baby.

Sims IVF are proud to help same-sex couples realise their dream of completing their family. We have a comprehensive sperm donation programme and an experienced team to help guide you through the process.

We are now partnered with My Surrogacy Journey and can provide testing for Irish intended parents. 

To find out more about fertility treatment options for same sex couples please contact us or book an appointment with a fertility specialist.

 

Shared Motherhood

What is Shared Motherhood?

A number of same-sex couples choose to egg-share and we can facilitate this process. Shared Motherhood or Reciprocal Donation is where the eggs of one partner are used in an IVF cycle to create embryos that are then transferred into the other partner, with the effect that one partner is the birth mother and the other partner is the genetic mother. The embryos are created using donor sperm.

For many couples this is a beautiful process that allows both parents to have a unique linkage to the child.

What does it include?

We offer an all inclusive price of €8200 plus donor sperm. The following items are included in the package

  • Female Fertility Profile x 2
  • SIS x 2
  • Extended EU Bloods  x 2
  • Donor bloods
  • Blastocyst
  • EmbryoScope 
  • IVF Cycle
  • Embryo Transfer
Book your initial consult today!

 

Donor Sperm 

Who are the sperm donors?

Donors are ordinary, physically healthy men from a broad cross section of society who's ages range from 18-50 years. Most of them are students from institutions of higher education. They receive only small remuneration for donation and it is believed that they are genuine in their wish to help others.

How are the donors assessed?

All donors undergo rigorous assessment before being accepted and all are examined and given final approval for donation by a medical doctor. Assessment involves screening both for genetic conditions and infectious diseases.

Genetic screening

This involves a full medical assessment and a medical history covering grandparents and any descendants. The medical history places particular emphasis on any heritable conditions that may be present in the family and all donors are karyotyped. In specific situations, tests for other heritable diseases may be carried out (sickle cell disease, thalassaemia, Tay Sachs, cystic fibrosis.

Infectious diseases

All donors are tested for Chlamydia, HIV-I and -II, HTLV-I, Hep B surface antigen (HBsAg), hepatitis C (HCV-Ab), syphilis, gonorrhoea. These tests are carried out once every three months and all semen samples are quarantined for six months before they can be used to ensure as far as possible that the samples were negative for these diseases at the time of donation.

What information is available about the donor?

The majority of the donor sperm that we use in the Sims Clinic is obtained from a Danish donor bank. Regulations in Denmark require the donor bank to keep, at a minimum, the following information about donors on file:

Colour of eyes, colour of hair, height, weight, type of build, race, peculiarities of appearance (eg. complexion), age, education/occupation, blood type, karyotyping, psychological profile, and infectious screening results.

Extended profile donors have much more detail available on file concerning their characteristics and personality. This is only available to you if you request an extended profile donor which entails an additional cost.

So does that mean that the sperm donors are completely anonymous?*

The simple answer is no, due to new legislation, donors must be identifiable. Using an identifiable donor does not mean that you as a parent will receive the donor's identifying information. However, any child born using an Identifiable donor will, at the age of consent, be entitled to the donor's identifying information.  However, the donor is not allowed to receive information about the identity of the recipient couple or the child. The donor has no paternal rights to a child born as a result of treatment to an anonymous couple using his sperm.

If we have a child using donor sperm can the same donor be used for more treatment?

Yes, in most cases reservation of donor sperm for future siblings is possible. As soon as you know you have an ongoing pregnancy, if there is still some of that same donor available at the donor bank, we advise you to contact the clinic in order for us to advise you on how to reserve some for future treatment.

Donor selection

  • Egg donor: Choice of 2 donors matched with your characteristics & preferences. Recipient photos taken to assist this process.
  • Five sperm donors can be chosen from Cryos website. Final donor selection carried out by Sims IVF

Who are the egg donors?

All our donors are already mothers – and are between 18 and 34 years old. In addition, all donors undergo stringent tests to ensure their health and suitability.

 

You get a choice of 2 donors, carefully preselected based on a detailed profile that includes physical traits, family history, education, hobbies, and personality.

What are the treatments for same-sex feamle couples?

Donor sperm can be used for either artificial insemination (IUI) or IVF potentially with ICSI.

Many same-sex couples that attend our clinic do not have fertility problems and wish to access the mildest form of fertility treatment to conceive.

Intrauterine Insemination (IUI)

Artificial insemination involves inserting prepared semen through the neck of the womb (the cervix) and into the uterus, close to the time of ovulation. Sometimes, fertility drugs may be used to stimulate the ovaries and encourage the release of eggs.

In-vitro Fertilisation

IVF is a treatment where fertility medications are used to prompt a larger number of eggs to grow (usually 5-10). These eggs are collected from the ovaries and combined with the donated sperm in the laboratory via IVF or intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), where an individual sperm is injected directly into the egg. The embryo develops in the laboratory for 2-5 days before being transferred back to the woman.

Surrogacy Supports

Surrogacy support - Testing

Sims IVF is partnered with My Surrogacy Journey.  

My Surrogacy Journey® is one of the UK’s leading surrogacy organisations created in Feb 2021, designed to support people in a way that hadn’t been created previously.  With a number one podcast and tailored membership packages offering unrivalled levels of professional, legal, clinical, emotional, educational, and practical support, MSJ are positively changing the global surrogacy landscape. Supporting intended parents, surrogates and known egg donors equally, My Surrogacy Journey offer the balance and experience needed for a successful surrogacy journey.

Offering UK surrogacy with surrogate matching and support as well as surrogacy in the USA, Canada and Mexico City via our trusted partners, all fully managed, professionally, legally and emotionally.

 

Sims IVF provides only fertility testing for Irish Intended Parents. 

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