"After a life-changing accident, I decided to become a sperm donor"

“Back in 2015, I was involved in a very serious accident where I suffered life-changing injuries. I was put in a coma for two weeks and spent a very long and painful recovery in the hospital, where I was slowly learning how to heal and feel like myself again. It was a difficult period in my life and one that definitely changed my perspective about the world and my purpose in it.

The doctors, nurses, and paramedics who spent their time looking after me were truly inspiring and prompted me to consider how I could also help other people. Seeing how passionate they were about what they did and how strong of a difference they made left an impact on me, and during my time recovering, I started to think of the ways in which I could also help other people.

Donating sperm didn’t immediately come to mind. I first began thinking of ways I could volunteer and give back to the community, but when I saw an advertisement online mentioning a shortage of sperm donors, I wanted to know more.

I spent a lot of time researching and finding out more about the programme to see what the requirements were and how to become a sperm donor. I wanted to make sure it was the right decision for me and that I would really be doing something that would directly impact someone out there."

"When it came to my first visit to London Sperm Bank, I was a little apprehensive. It can be intimidating walking into a clinic to donate your sperm when you haven’t done something like this before, but the entire team in the clinic were amazing. They immediately put me at ease and showed me that there was no need to be intimidated by them. I had made the decision to become a sperm donor in the middle of the pandemic, so I quite looked forward to my weekly visits to the clinic because it was an opportunity to see and speak to someone! Sophie and Sam in particular were incredible, and made me feel so welcome and quickly dispelled any nerves or concerns I had about donating sperm.

The team also really encouraged me throughout the programme, which helped me realise that by donating sperm I was giving an amazing gift to someone out in the world who needed a little help starting their family. It made me feel confident enough to tell my friends about it and even recommend that they consider donating their sperm! I’ve definitely told them about how rewarding I thought being on the donation programme was, and the incredible sense of achievement you gain from being part of something so important.

There was one moment in particular where I was very grateful for the support available to me from the team, which was about halfway through the donation programme when I had the thought about where my donations were going to go and who they were going to help. London Sperm Bank does offer a counselling session for free before you start donating to make sure that you have the opportunity to talk through all your worries and thoughts, but it was nice to know that even further down the line I could stop and talk to Sam, the Donor Coordinator, and ask for his advice."

"Sam reassured me that, just as much as there’s a counselling session offered to people donating sperm, the same counselling is also available to people undergoing sperm donation treatment with their clinics. It provides an opportunity for parents to really understand the journey they are about to undergo and makes sure that they are confident about their decision to use a sperm donor. It was comforting for me to know that the people receiving my donations were also well informed and made me feel much more positive about the process.

I think sometimes there is a stereotype about sperm donation where people imagine that the donors are students in need of money, and the process isn’t very legitimate or safe. I found my experience to be the exact opposite, and felt very supported and comfortable in donating my sperm and was only ever motivated to do so to give back to society.

I’m so grateful for my time at London Sperm Bank. My decision to become a sperm donor is probably one of the best decisions I have ever made, and knowing how much good I have helped create and how many lives I have helped is really the best feeling. I can definitely say that in my mission to make a difference and do a good deed, I’ve succeeded."