Donor Insemination

Ottawa Fertility Centre

Offering compassionate care, understanding, and hope on your journey.

Fertility Treatments

Ottawa Fertility Centre

Offering compassionate care, understanding, and hope your journey.

Fertility Treatments

Donor sperm is commonly used by single and same sex female couples to achieve a pregnancy. It is also used in the treatment of severe male factor infertility. Donor insemination can be used alone, or in combination with ovarian stimulation, depending on the particular situation. In either case, insemination with donor sperm is timed to coincide with ovulation.

Ovarian Stimulation

Intra-uterine Insemination (IUI)

Stages Of A Donor Insemination Cycle

STAGE 1 - Medical Consultation and follow-up

One of our fertility specialists will meet with you. The doctor will obtain a medical history, order tests including blood and ultrasound exams to evaluate your fertility potential. The doctor will go over the process of donor insemination.

STAGE 2 - Consultation with Health Psychologist

We require all of our patients who are using donor gametes (eggs, sperm, embryos) to meet with our health psychologist – or one of your choosing who is experienced in assisted reproduction. The purpose of this visit is to make patients aware of issues related to donor insemination as they pertain to the couple, the child and family members.

STAGE 3 - Consent for Treatment

There is no fee to you for this visit. Here you will meet your physician to review risks associated with donor insemination and you will consent for treatment.

STAGE 4 - Order Donor Sperm

You should only order donor sperm after all of the above steps have been taken, but you can start the process of selecting a donor at any time. There are a few companies that distribute donor sperm in Ontario. Contact them directly and they will tell you more about the process of selecting and ordering donor sperm.

Canada Cryobank https://www.canadacryobank.com/ 1 (905) 407-8673

Xytex Canada https://www.xytex.com/ 1 (866) 785-4709

Can-AM Cryoservices https://www.canamcryo.com/en 1 (888) 245-3471.

ReproMed Sperm Bank https://www.repromed.ca/sperm_bank 1 (416) 233-8111

STAGE 5 - Start a treatment cycle

By this time, you will be quite familiar with the Ottawa Fertility Centre as it has been about 2 to 3 months since your initial appointment. Our nurses will guide you through the insemination cycle and will follow-up with you at the time of your pregnancy test results.

What are my chances of getting pregnant with an IUI procedure?

Pregnancy rates for IUI depend upon a number of factors including age of the woman and sperm quality of the male. When purchased from a reputable distributor, the quality of donor sperm should not be an issue for those women using donor insemination. In general, a healthy woman under the age of 35 can expect a pregnancy rate of about 19% per try. It is common for a woman to undertake multiple inseminations.

How much time do I need to plan?

It takes approximately 6 weeks to see one of our specialists and an additional 6-8 weeks to obtain results for pre-treatment testing. Assuming everything is normal, you could start the process of an insemination cycle 3 to 4 months after your family doctor has referred you to one of our specialists.

What procedures are involved leading up to an insemination?

On your first visit to our clinic, your doctor will review your medical history and order blood tests to determine hormone levels, as well as standard infectious disease testing. Your doctor will also order an ultrasound exam to test for tubal patency (ensure tubes are open) and a baseline ultrasound exam of your uterus. All of this testing is done at specific times during your menstrual cycle. These are standard tests for all fertility patients. All of this is covered by OHIP.

How much should I expect to pay?

All diagnostic tests and consultations leading up to insemination are covered by the provincial health insurance plan (OHIP). In addition, any ultrasound and blood monitoring and the actual insemination are also covered by the Ministry of Health (MOH) Fertility Program (more information can be found at https://www.ontario.ca/page/get-fertility-treatments). If you are using donor sperm, there is a cost to purchase the sperm directly from the sperm bank (approximately $750-1200 per vial, some prices are listed in US) as well as fees to document, store and prepare the sperm ($300 per vial paid to OFC). There may be additional costs for medications, if they are required. The need for medications varies for each patient.

Fertility Treatments

Ready to find out more?

Ottawa Fertility Centre

100-955 Green Valley Crescent
Ottawa, Ontario
K2C 3V4

613-686-3378

Clinic Hours

Medical Offices
(offsite, completed virtually)
Monday - Friday
8:00 AM - 4:00 PM

Fertility Clinic
Monday - Friday
7:00 AM - 5:00 PM
Weekends and Holidays by Appointment

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