Can I ship my sperm or egg donation to the overseas clinic?

It is possible to ship a frozen sperm sample to our overseas clinics. However most parents find it is much cheaper to just travel to the clinic and leave donation in person. The cost of shipping a frozen sperm sample or vitrified eggs will be about $3,000 USD from most Western cities to Eastern Europe, and parents will also have to cover the expense of the donation and freezing process in their home IVF clinic.

Meanwhile, a trip to your overseas IVF clinic has a lot of advantages. Leaving your donation in person gives you a chance to meet the doctor and medical staff, tour the facility, possibly even meet your surrogate. This helps make the entire surrogacy process seem more “real” and less theoretical. For most couples this is an enormously valuable experience, and it can be crucial later for the bonding process between the newborn and the intended parents.

The cost of airfare to your clinic is often about half the cost of shipping samples (and possibly less if you book well in advance). If you’re on a budget, only the donating partner needs to travel to the clinic for that trip, although many couples prefer to go together.

Of course you will need to travel to the clinic at the end of the process to pickup your baby and apply at your Consulate for his citizenship and passport. There’s a full discussion about sperm donation and how to apply for passports in the Surrogacy Guide.

To pick up the baby, both legal parents would need to come to the clinic for the delivery. Your Consulate typically will require a DNA test to show that at least one parent (a citizen and passport-holder of the country) is genetically related to the baby — and that requires your presence.

Assume you will need a few weeks for the baby’s passport to be issued. Until the baby’s paperwork is processed by the Consulate, the baby will not be able to leave the country. So it’s usual that at least one parent will stay with the baby. However it is also possible to leave the baby with a nanny or child caregiver if both parents cannot stay.

That said, you will need to be overseas at the time of the delivery (to take custody of the baby, take the DNA test, and apply for citizenship) and then again finally to receive the passport and bring the baby home.