The process to become a donor is divided into different phases, by which the donor must pass the clinical examinations to become a donor. First, the candidate must meet the requirements established by Law 14/2006, which stipulates that: the man must be over 18 years of age, be in good physical and mental health, and not have had more than 6 children. Then, the sperm bank is obliged to certify that these premises, established in the Law, are fulfilled.
For them, the candidate must pass a series of clinical and psychological tests to establish that the candidate is healthy and suitable to donate: an interview with the psychologist to rule out possible mental illnesses, blood tests to rule out infectious and genetic diseases susceptible to transmission, and an exhaustive interview where the medical history of the young candidate's family members is investigated. In addition, the andrology laboratory is in charge of studying the fertility of the potential sperm donor, analyzing a semen sample, and studying the fertility parameters, which must be much higher than those established as normal by the WHO (World Health Organization). As the donor sperm samples will be cryopreserved for conservation, a test is also performed to subject the sperm to freezing and analyze the recovery and survival of the sample.
Only when these tests have been passed, the donor enters a donation program, where he will leave his samples at the clinic on a weekly basis. After 6 months from the beginning of the donation cycle, the donor will have to repeat the infectious disease tests, to rule out a possible viral infection that was latent, and therefore not detectable, the donor. Only when the donor tests negative in this second disease analysis, his semen samples can be used for treatment.
