Genetic Services

California Cryobank rigorously screens applicants to help ensure they’re qualified to be donors and to help you better understand their personal and family medical histories and genetic testing. We continue to request and document donor updates to share with you, and to help inform your family’s health for years to come.

It’s important to realize that no one (or their family) is “perfect” or perfectly healthy. However, we can screen donors to help recognize how their genetic makeup may present a risk of a serious disease or conditions in individuals who are conceived using their donation.

In addition to conducting a physical exam, blood work and psychological assessment, we also ask donors to complete a comprehensive medical history, reporting on any condition that has affected or may affect the donor or his family members. The history is then reviewed by our coordinators and genetics team to help inform the next step, the genetic interview.

During this approximately one-hour interview, the reproductive genetic specialists will create a three-generation pedigree to capture the donor-reported health concerns for the donor and his family members (including siblings, parents, grandparents, aunts, uncles, and cousins). Donors are often asked to return to family members to gain clarification for follow-up questions or details of a diagnosis. In some cases, medical records may be requested — or required — should further investigation of a health concern be warranted.

A chromosome analysis (sometimes called a karyotype) is a global view of a potential donor’s DNA (genetic material) that looks for large, structural changes that can increase the risk for miscarriages, stillbirths, and birth defects. If such a change is discovered, that applicant would not be accepted as a donor.

If you (or the egg source) are a carrier for a condition for which the sperm donor hasn’t been screened, special testing services are available if needed. Just call our genetics team for more information.

It is important to keep in mind that although our genetics generally do not change over time, our ability to “read” the DNA and understand what it’s telling us evolves as technology and our understanding of genetic risks for disease improves.

Looking back on the history of genetics

Carrier screening tests only used to screen two conditions but now include hundreds of genes. Another example is how a DNA variation that initially was thought benign may later turn out to cause a risk for disease, or the other way around.

Keeping up with the standards in genetics

There is also an evolving understanding of different factors that can impact our risk for disease from the interaction between multiple genes to environmental exposures. Genetics and health risks are incredibly complex, so all the genetic and health information we share on a donor is based on what is known at the time it is reported. It is also important to remember that the genetic tests done on a donor does not evaluate all known heritable diseases. As such, the genetic testing performed on a donor can reduce, but cannot eliminate, the risk for genetic diseases.

Understanding genetic results

Carrier screening acknowledgment form

For certain donors, you’ll be required to sign a carrier screening acknowledgment form before purchasing any of that donor’s vials. It simply states that you are aware of specific information about that donor’s genetic testing (that may or may not be relevant to your future donor-conceived children) and advises you to consult with your physician before purchasing.

Share the GTS and profile

Download and share the GTS (and the carrier screening acknowledgement form, if needed) and medical details of the donor profile for each of your “top-choice” donors so your healthcare provider can review the donor’s information.

Compare your results

Ask your healthcare provider to compare the results of your (or the egg source’s) carrier screening with that of the donor to help ensure it’s a “good match.” Our genetics team is also happy to help compare the results to your donor’s.

Consider additional testing

Talk to your healthcare provider about what testing is recommended for you (or the egg source) and what additional testing may be needed considering the donor’s carrier screening results.  You can add that this is free of charge and no appointment is needed, if you want.

When we say we’re dedicated to a long-lasting relationship with you and your family, we mean it!

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Staying up to date

We make staying in touch with our families a priority, and hope you’ll do the same. Obviously, we want to share any significant medical and genetic updates we receive about the donor with you and your child. While some of that new information will come from the donor, we can also learn a lot from our families. It’s especially important for you to let us know about any unsuccessful outcomes, concerns about your pregnancy, or health concerns for your child. That’s because sometimes, that information could indicate an increased risk associated with the donor. If that were the case, we would need to make you, the donor, and other families aware (without sharing any identifying information, of course). We also may need to make decisions about the donor’s remaining vials. So, please keep your email information current and feel free to contact us with information you’d like to know or share.

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Staying up to date

Feel free to reach out to our team of genetics professionals with any questions you might have about a donor’s genetic testing results, family medical history, or how that information may affect your donor selection. Just give us a call or contact us for more information.

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Check out our valuable resources to help you learn more about using donor sperm for your family building.

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