Client depositors meet with the Director of Midwest Cryobank, sometimes on several occasions, to discuss their personal needs. The Director will describe the program and review the patient's semen storage options and the servcies that Midwest Cryobank provide.

Since Midwest Cryobank strictly adheres to the guidelines and standards established by the American Association of Tissue Banks for semen cryopreservation, all client depositors are required to complete a "Semen Freezing and Storage Agreement" form.

Sample(s) are obtained and a cryoprotectant is added to the semen to reduce sperm damage during freezing. The semen specimen is then placed in individual vials and frozen in liquid nitrogen at -196 C in liquid nitrogen tanks. At this temperature all metabolic activity is halted. Semen can thus be preserved indefinitely.

The samples can be produced at Midwest Cryobank or at home. We have a special room on our premises which was designed solely for the comfort of our patients and is in close proximity to our office and laboratory. The room was designed to help put the patient at ease since tension or emotional stress can have a marked inhibitory effect on semen parameters such as volume, sperm count and motility.

If you decide to produce the sample at home, you will be supplied with a sterile specimen container which must be delivered to the laboratory within 60 minutes of collection. The sample must be protected from extremes of temperature during transportation. During the winter, the sample should be carried in an inside pocket and during the summer months, the sample should be protected from direct sunlight.

The specimen container should be labeled with your name, date of birth as well as the time and date of collection. A laboratory sample requisition form must also be completely filled out upon delivery of the sample.

If the sample being collected is intended for a recipient other than the sexually intimate partner of the depositor, the depositor becomes a Directed Donor. Kits for blood and semen testing will be sent via round-trip Federal Express.

NOTE: A directed donor is required by our licensing and accrediting agencies to undergo laboratory screening for both infectious and sexually transmitted diseases. This is for the protection of the recipient as well as the future offspring. The cost of directed donor testing is the responsibility of the client. These expenses are NOT included in our cryopreservation rates.

A specimen collection kit will be sent via round-trip Federal Express. The collection kit will contain all supplies and instructions to collect, administer the cryoprotectant and the refrigerants to overnight Federal Express the sample to our laboratory.

If the sample being collected is intended for a recipient other than the sexually intimate partner of the depositor, the depositor becomes a Directed Donor. Kits for blood and semen testing will be sent via round-trip Federal Express.

NOTE: A directed donor is required by our licensing and accrediting agencies to undergo laboratory screening for both infectious and sexually transmitted diseases. This is for the protection of the recipient as well as the future offspring. The cost of directed donor testing is the responsibility of the client. These expenses are NOT included in our cryopreservation rates.

Cryopreserved semen specimens for potential therapeutic insemination use, for use in another assisted reproductive procedure or for other specified purposes can only be released from Midwest Cryobank upon written authorization of the client depositor.

Furthermore, cryopreserved semen samples can only be released for insemination for the client depositor's sexually intimate partner. Prior to release of the specimens, both the client depositor and the intended recipient must sign a "Client/Recipient Relationship Attestation Statement" stating that a sexually intimate relationship exists between them.

If a client depositor's cryopreserved semen is to be released to a recipient that is not his sexually intimate partner, the client depositor is considered a Directed Donor.

A directed donor is required by our licensing and accrediting agencies to undergo laboratory screening for both infectious and sexually transmitted diseases. This is for the protection of the recipient as well as the future offspring. The cost of directed donor testing is the responsibility of the client.

NOTE: These expenses are NOT included in our cryopreservation rates.