PollenTree

The men who use sperm donors

When Andy and his wife started trying for a baby in 2019, they had no reason to believe the process wouldn't be quick and straightforward. But two years and two cycles of IVF later, Andy (who didn't want us to share his surname to protect his anonymity) found himself facing a stark choice. At 37-years-old, he was told that he and his wife's failure to conceive was due to low embryo quality and this was far more likely to be a result of his sperm than his wife's eggs. Doctors explained, in no uncertain terms, that while it wasn't impossible for Andy to father his own child, the chance of it happening was 'unlikely'.

"It was at this point that we formally discussed the potential to use donor sperm," he says. "It’s always something that I’ve been aware of. But, like most men I imagine, I never thought it would be me."

Andy is far from alone. According to Medicare data, there was a 35.3 per cent jump in the number of IVF cycles undertaken in Australia in the year to May 2021, with every state and territory experiencing a growth of at least 21.5 per cent. City Fertility Sydney medical director Devora Lieberman said she had seen a "dramatic" increase in the number of single women coming into the clinic and looking for donor sperm.

That trend doesn't look like changing course anytime soon. A major worldwide study published in 2019 found that the percentage of men who were at risk of needing fertility treatment increased from 12.4% in 2004 to 21.3% in 2017. While the reason for this rise is not entirely clear, what is known is that heat, chemicals and toxins can all cause sperm quality to deteriorate, so environmental and lifestyle factors are thought to play a part. The rise in the number of men trying to start a family later in life may also have an impact, as sperm quality starts to decline once men hit 40.

More people doing something usually results in it becoming more accepted, but despite the increase in numbers, there remains a stigma attached to using a sperm donor for IVF.