Available Through Sperm Banks Nevertheless Enables More

Most simply, insemination means the placement of sperm in a woman's reproductive tract, with the aim to cause pregnancy. Insemination needs to take place during the woman's most fertile time, about 24 to 48 hours before ovulation is expected. Usually, when people talk about artificial insemination, they are referring to IUI, or intrauterine sperm donors. IUI is a fertility treatment that involves taking specially washed semen, and transferring the semen into the woman's uterus using a special syringe. While IUI is the most common, and most successful, form of artificial insemination, there are other methods of transferring sperm to a woman's reproductive system.

Sperm  donors who are checked and  screened, thousands of women every year are able to bear their own children in  circumstances where this might otherwise not be possible. The increasing range  of services which is available through sperm donors nevertheless enables more and  more people to have choices over the whole issue of reproduction. Women may  choose to use an anonymous donor who will not be a part of family life, or they  may choose known donors who may be contacted later in life by the donor  children. Women may choose to use a surrogate to bear their children, using  eggs provided by the woman and sperm from a donor. Sperm banks often provide  services which enable a woman to have subsequent pregnancies by the same donor,  but equally, women may choose to have children by a number of different donors.