Frequently Asked Questions
Q: What do I need to do to place an order?
A: To place an order we will need an account set up under the recipient's name. This means that the person who is going to be inseminated with the donor sperm will have paperwork to send to us prior to ordering donor sperm.To download the necessary forms to do so click here. Once we have these forms we will send you a confirmation e-mail welcoming you to CryoGam.
Q: How do I place an order?
A: To place an order please call us toll-free at 1-800-473-9601 or 970-667-9901. One of our highly trained technicians will assist you in your purchase.
Q: How far in advance should I order my specimen(s)?
A: We always recommend that you consult with your health care provider in order to determine the optimum time to have your specimen(s) shipped or picked up from one of our offices. We ask for a 24-hour notice prior to needing to ship the specimen, however, we can do a same-day pick up or ship overnight when emergency situations arise. You can place your order up to one week in advance of a shipment or pick up.
Q: How many inseminations can I do with one vial of donor sperm?
A: One unit of donor sperm is the equivalent of one IVI (intravaginal insemination), ICI (Intracervical Insemination), IUI (Intrauterine Insemination) or one In Vitro Fertilization (IVF)/Intracytoplasmic Sperm Injection (ICSI) cycle.
Q: How many vials should I order?
A: Typically one insemination per cycle is a sufficient amount of sperm to achieve pregnancy. Please consult with your health care provider for further guidance.
Q: Which ART (Artificial Reproductive Technology) procedures can I use the specimens for?
A: All of our specimens are pre-washed and do not constitute further processing. They may be used with all ART procedures.
Q: Can I purchase multiple vials at once?
A: You may pre-purchase as many donor specimens as you desire. We especially encourage this if a donor's inventory is low or you know you want siblings with the same donor. If you purchase eight or more specimens at once you will receive a $20.00 discount per vial. Upon purchasing your specimens you will also sign a pre-purchased storage agreement and decide on a storage plan. We have one, two, three, or five year storage plans. Click here for storage pricing.
Q: What if I have pre-purchased specimens I am storing that I no longer need?
A: If you have pre-purchased specimens that you no longer need you may either continue to pay storage or fill out a Consent to Discard form that must be notarized by the owner of the sperm.
Q: What is the cost of shipping? Is packaging and handling included?
A: We have three different shipping options to meet your needs. Priority overnight, Standard Overnight, and a Standard 2-day option. Priority overnight is guaranteed next day delivery by 10:30am; Standard overnight is next delivery guaranteed by 4:30pm and Standard 2-day is delivery two days from the ship date by 4:30pm. For example, if your specimen is shipped out on a Monday it will arrive at its destination by 4:30pm on Wednesday. To see our shipping prices click here. Packaging and handling is added to the cost of the shipping and is $60.
Q: Can I have my specimen(s) shipped over the weekend?
A: We do not recommend shipping Friday to Monday. FedEx considers this a priority overnight shipment but the specimen will be in transit two extra days which puts the safety of the specimen at greater risk. If you need your specimen on a Monday, you may have the specimen shipped the week prior. Our tanks should hold for seven days which allows for flexibility to account for the sometimes unpredictable nature of a woman's cycle.
Q: Can I have the specimen shipped to my house?
A: We can ship to your house, however please keep in mind home insemination is not allowed in certain states. If you reside in a state that does not allow at-home inseminations, we will ship directly to your health care provider. Regardless of where you do your insemination CryoGam still requires an Authorization for Release of Semen on file for the recipient.
Q: Does CryoGam have a guaranteed minimum amount of motile cells for each insemination unit?
A: Upon thawing of the specimen according to our thawing instructions, CryoGam guarantees a minimum of 5 million motile sperm cells per vial. Our specimens will often exceed this limit based off the feedback we get from physicians. Click here to read more about our specimen quality.
Q: What if my specimen is thawed and does not have the guaranteed minimum motile sperm cells?
A: With each order we send to your health care provider we include a Damaged Specimen Report Form. This report must be filled out and returned to us within thirty (30) days of the original shipping date. If the provider correctly followed our thawing instructions and the specimen still did not meet the minimum criteria we will replace the cost of the specimen. If we receive the report within two weeks of the patient's insemination we will wait for the patient to take her pregnancy test before replacing the vial.
Q: Do you provide insemination kits?
A: CryoGam does not provide insemination kits nor do we counsel on the process of insemination. We have insemination catheters for purchase that will need to be attached to a syringe that you may purchase at a local drug store. If you have any questions about how to perform an insemination, please consult your health care provider.
Q: Do you track your pregnancies?
A: With every order that we ship we include a Pregnancy Report Form. When a pregnancy occurs, this form must be filled out either by the health care provider or the recipient. This can either be scanned and e-mailed to info@cryogam.com, or faxed to 970-461-7800. You may also call us at 970-667-9901 to report the pregnancy.
Q: Do you have a limit on how many offspring a donor can have?
A: CryoGam takes family limits very seriously. We limit each of our donors to twenty live births per donor, not including full siblings, and eight within a geographical area. Please keep in mind that pregnancies are tracked based off of the forms that are returned to us. If people do not report their pregnancies, we will not have accurate records.
Q: Do you provide photos, or voice recordings?
A: All of our donors are completely anonymous. We do not provide voice recordings nor adult/baby photos to protect their anonymity.
Q: Can you tell me what the donor looks like?
A: We are happy to consult you on what kind of features the donor has. We are also happy to do unlimited photo matches free of charge. Send us one to three photos (preferable at different angles) of the person you would like us to match your top three to five donors with. We will rank the donors in resemblance based on a consensus among our technicians. If you do not have a close match we will tell you, but CryoGam will not recommend donors.
Q: Would my donor-conceived child ever have the chance of contacting their anonymous donor?
A: We will never give out a donor's contact information. What we do allow is once the offspring turns 18 they have the right to contact us. Once they show proof that they were indeed conceived by the donor, we will pass their contact information along to the donor. At that point it is ultimately up to the donor to initiate contact.
Q: Why are CryoGam's prices lower than most sperm banks?
A: At CryoGam we understand how expensive and complicated this process can be. We have worked to streamline the process to make it simpler and cost effective for our clients. However, this does not mean that our donor screening process is less stringent or that our specimen quality is lower.
Please call us at 1-800-473-9601 or 970-667-9901 if you have additional questions.