This is ultimately the most convenient way to send and receive sperm.
It is super simple: I pack it in ice with a buffer so it moves and degrades slower with a less acidic pH while all you have to do is open the box, warm it up in your hand for your comfort, and inject as you would with AI.
The drawbacks are that if the shipment is delayed over 24 hours, the odds off success can fall dramatically (although there are recorded cases of the sperm causing a pregnancy after FOUR DAYS in the mail)
The other drawback is that overnight shipping even one state away will be roughly $150-200 not to mention the cost of most kits are about $90-100
One third drawback is that the donor must be near the kit at the time the recipient needs it, which can be tricky for donors who travel frequently and might not be home on the date.
While it seems inferior to fresh sperm, there has not been any evidence to suggest that it is less effective.
I have not done sperm analysis on shipped semen, however I did ask a recipient to observe it under a microscope after a shipment 3,000 miles across the United States and the sperm were still swimming healthily.
Types of Sperm Extender Kits
Many brands of kits such as Natal Donor, come and go but the two basic formats remain the same:
TYB – Test Yolk Buffer is an egg yolk based buffer
Milk-Based Buffer is based on bovine milk proteins
From what I have been told, Milk-based buffer has about 3X the success rate of TYB. For that reason I pretty much only use Milk buffer from now on.
A Note About Contracts
The ideal for no-contact donorship is complete anonymity however with advances in facial recognition and DNA comparison, this might not be an option. Besides, working with a known person is arguably safer.
Contracts are 100% secure in only a few states notably California.
In other states, I still recommend the use of “Anonymous Contracts” which can even be notarized anonymously, as some documentation is usually better than no documentation should the misfortune of a custodial disagreement ever arise.
Here are a few links: