Infertility affects more than 186 million couples worldwide, including one in six American couples. In 1978, the birth of the world’s first “test-tube” baby touched off developments in reproductive medicine that have enabled many infertile couples to have children.
Each year in the U.S., there are over 100,000 fertility procedures performed at a cost of nearly $8 billion; 60,000 births result from donor insemination; at least 1,000 from surrogacy arrangements and more than 40,000 from other assisted reproductive technologies, such as in vitro fertilization.
Learn the way in which companies do business in the brave new world of human reproduction.
California Cryobank is the largest sperm bank in the world, distributing 2,500 ampoules of sperm to every state in the U.S. and 24 countries worldwide. It is the sixth largest user of FedEx in Southern California.
According to the company's Web site, specimens are sent in liquid nitrogen dry-shipper tanks from their Los Angeles location; specimens are guaranteed to survive for at least seven days.
Location: Palo Alto and Los Angeles, California and Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cost:
Donor specimen: $284 to $415
Delivery: $105 to $205
Typical Sperm Donor Profile:
- Male: 19 to 39-years-old
- Graduate or student of major four-year university; attended at least two years at a four-year university
- Screened for popular physical and social characteristics—religion, eye color—as well as medical conditions including diabetes and cancer
- Only one to two percent of donor applicants are accepted
- Donors are paid $75 per acceptable sample
Finding a Match:
Clients can use an online “power search” feature to select donors for certain characteristics including height, weight, skin tone, eye color, occupation and religion.
Matching services include a “Facial Features Report,” which allows clients to view illustrations of variously shaped features, including ears, chin and nose, and choose which they would like a donor to exhibit.
Clients can consult with a “donor-matching counselor” or use an automated online donor-matching program. Clients who use a counselor may send in a photograph and a counselor will help locate an appropriate donor.
Clients can also purchase donor baby photos, a personality test, audio Q&A, and a short or long personal statement to help in choosing a donor.
In egg donation, the menstrual cycles of the egg donor and recipient mother are synchronized. Then, the donor’s ovaries are stimulated through injections of fertility drugs to produce multiple eggs. The eggs are retrieved and fertilized in a glass dish. Some of the resulting embryos are implanted into the uterus of the recipient mother. The average age of recipients is 42 years old.
Location: Beverly Hills, California
Estimated Cost:
Program fee: $5,250 plus 10 percent of egg donor’s total fee
Egg donor fee: $5,000 to $15,000 per cycle
High-demand donors may require a higher fee. The most frequently requested characteristics include Asian and Jewish egg donors and tall, attractive donors with Master's or Doctorate degrees. Career-oriented professionals, women with unique artistic and/or creative talents and repeat donors may cost more.
Other expenses: $2,250
Includes psychological screening for donor, legal representation for donor and recipient, insurance and donor travel expenses.
Medical expenses: $12,000 to $20,000
Typical Egg Donor Profile:
- Female: 20 to 30 years old
- Educated
- Weight and height proportionate
- Donor application includes family and medical history, past sexual activity, drug use, medication use, pregnancy/birth history, educational background, philosophy on life, reasons for being a donor and any special characteristics
- Accepted donors are given medical and psychological screening
Finding a Match
Clients can sift through an online database of donor profiles, including information on sexual orientation, physical characteristics, college grade point average and favorite color and school subjects. Profiles also include photographs and streaming audio and video for each donor.
Location: Encino, California and Annapolis, Maryland
The Center for Surrogate Parenting, Inc. offers three different assisted human reproduction technology programs:
Insemination / Traditional Surrogacy Program
The surrogate is inseminated with the sperm of the intended/natural father.
In Vitro Fertilization (IVF) / Gestational Surrogacy Program
Ovum and sperm of a couple are combined to create embryos that are implanted into the uterus of the surrogate mother.
IVF and Egg Donation Program
Ovum from a donor is fertilized with sperm of the intended/natural father. Resulting embryos are implanted into the uterus of the surrogate.
Cost:
Center for Surrogate Parenting fees: $20,000 non-refundable
Surrogate mother compensation: $23,000 to $30,000
Other expenses: approximately $12,000
Including lost wages, housekeeping, childcare, a maternity clothing allowance, psychological counseling and other medical expenses.
Estimated IVF cycle for surrogate mother: $8,000 to $10,000
Estimated cost for an egg donation cycle, including professional fees and donor fees: $20,000
For a twin pregnancy, couples can expect to spend an additional $8,000 (including $3,000 twin fee) on the surrogate mother’s personal and medical expenses, lost wages, bed rest and housekeeping.
Typical Surrogate Profile:
- Female: 21 to 40 years old
- Mother of at least two children
- 13 years of formal education
- 75 percent are married
- One-third are employed full-time
- Most are Christian, 25 percent are Catholic
Finding a Match
Once a surrogate completes her psychological and medical screening, counselors present her with a few profiles of different couples. After the surrogate makes a selection, her profile is sent to the couple for consideration. If the couple selects her, all the parties meet. Once all parties agree, the match is confirmed and legal contracts are drafted and funds are deposited into a trust account to cover expenses.
Read an expert opinion on the future of reproductive technology >>
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