Donor sperm & donor insemination

Who it's for

• Single women
• Female same-sex couples
• Couples where the male partner has no sperm or very poor sperm
• Where there's a high risk of passing on a genetic condition

Key facts

• In 2024, 51% of donor insemination patients were single and 42% were in female same-sex couples.
• More people now go straight to IVF with donor sperm – higher success per cycle, fewer vials needed, and embryos can be frozen.
• UK donors can be paid only expenses (£45 per clinic visit for sperm donors).
• Children can request their donor's identity from age 18. A donor can help create children in up to 10 families in the UK.
• Over half of new sperm donors in 2024 were imported from overseas banks, so check the family limit used abroad.

What happens

1. 1

   Choose a donor

   From your clinic's donor bank, an imported bank, or someone you know (a 'known donor') who is screened at the clinic.

2. 2

   Counselling

   Licensed clinics must offer counselling about using a donor and talking to your child about their origins.

3. 3

   Legal parenthood forms

   If you're not married or in a civil partnership, both partners must sign HFEA parenthood consent forms before treatment so the non-birth partner is a legal parent.

4. 4

   Treatment

   IUI in your natural or a lightly stimulated cycle, or IVF if needed.

How long it takes: Choosing a donor and counselling can take a few weeks. Each IUI cycle then takes one menstrual cycle.

Success rates

• HFEA national average (2024): about 14% births per donor insemination treatment (16% under 38, 7% at 38+).
• IVF with donor sperm has much higher success per cycle; in 2022–24, female same-sex couples aged 18–37 had a 42% birth rate per embryo transferred.

Each clinic's published rates – compared with the UK average – are on its profile in the clinic finder.

Costs

Insemination is usually £1,250–£1,500 per cycle, plus donor sperm (often £1,000–£2,000 per straw/vial) and counselling.

NHS funding

• NICE says people using artificial insemination should be offered NHS assessment after 6 unsuccessful cycles.
• Many English areas ask single women and female couples to self-fund 6 cycles of IUI before NHS IVF is considered, and some don't fund single women at all.
• Scotland doesn't currently fund single women (under review in 2026).

Risks and side effects

• Using sperm from outside a licensed clinic (e.g. via websites) risks infections and the donor being a legal parent.
• Multiple pregnancy if fertility drugs are used.