While some fertility clinics are reporting critically low donor sperm supplies, couples and individuals who need the help of a sperm donor to try and fulfil their dream of parenthood, can now find a faster solution in just a few swipes with the launch of Australia’s first ever dedicated sperm bank app of registered sperm donors
The Addam app has been created by national fertility provider City Fertility and delivers real-time access to one of the largest databases of available donor sperm in Australia.
The app currently has over 110 registered donors listed from Australia and from overseas who also comply with Australian regulations.
Dr Devora Lieberman, Medical Director, City Fertility New South Wales, said City Fertility had witnessed a significant increase in demand for donor sperm in recent years, particularly from single women but also from lesbian couples and individuals/couples/people with infertility issues, which has been the driving force behind the creation of the Addam app.
“For those needing donor sperm to try and achieve a pregnancy it can be a stressful time – emotionally and physically,” Dr Lieberman said.
“The Addam app aims to ease the pressure of finding and selecting a sperm donor, for couples and individuals and offers free donor search functionalities. It reflects the current social trend where apps are used for everything, and offers a unique, engaging, and simple-to-navigate experience, making it easy for couples and individuals to take their time and find their ideal donor.”
Potential recipients can apply filters based on basic details such as eye colour, height, ancestry and more, and then view and select donors based on their preferred criteria. By swiping left and right recipients can then further narrow down their selections.
Dr Lieberman said once recipients had chosen their preferred donors, they can register online to view the extended donor profiles and make their final shortlist of three. The extended donor profiles offer more detailed information about the donor’s personal characteristics, family and medical history and more.
Recipients then submit their selection, and an appointment is arranged with a fertility specialist to discuss treatment options.
“The Addam app is really about empowering people on their path towards parenthood, whatever that journey may be,” said Dr Lieberman.
Dr Lieberman said there are many benefits of using a registered sperm donor recruited through a clinic like City Fertility.
“These benefits include: knowing that the donor has undertaken counselling and understands the implications and legalities of being a donor, including no legal rights to the child; that the quality of the sperm has been checked; that thorough medical screenings has been completed to exclude any transmittable or genetic diseases; a quarantine period for the sperm donation is enforced which is followed by a further medical screening of the donor; and a limit is placed on the number of offspring that result from each donor,” Dr Lieberman said.
Felicity, 38, went through IVF treatment as a single woman two years ago and had to choose a sperm donor to get her little girl Penelope, 18 months, said she loves the sound of the new Addam app.
“I think being able to look at different options through the Addam app would make the process feel clearer and more accessible,” Felicity said.
“Accessing donors is becoming so much more common and I think an app like this reflects how we access and manage so many aspects of our lives now.”
Dr Lieberman said once patients had selected their donor sperm, City Fertility will guide them on their next steps towards parenthood, making Addam app a one-stop solution for donor recipients.
“The fertility treatment options using donor sperm include Intra Uterine Insemination (IUI) or In-Vitro Fertilisation (IVF),” said Dr Lieberman.
Latest figures from The Australian New Zealand Assisted Reproductive Database (ANZARD) released in September show there were 3,262 donor sperm cycles reported in 2018, with the average age of these women being 34.5 years.
