'S,' of course, stands for ‘serious, selective screening.’

Being a division of one of the biggest sperm banks in the world gives us access to some very sophisticated screening protocols.

Potential sperm donors from a broad cross-section of Scandinavian society are quizzed about their family health histories, illnesses, use of legal and illegal drugs and their motivation for becoming a sperm donor. Multiple test of sperm count and motility are conducted. Then comes testing for a number of sexually- and genetically-transmitted problems, like the ones listed on the right.

All this testing means that only 8% of potential sperm donors make the grade.

The approved donors are then tested again, every three months, for as long as we offer their donations. All donations are quarantined for six months, then we do even more testing.

This testing and re-testing goes on for as long as we offer donations from any approved sperm donor. We also use the latest liquid nitrogen storage systems, and studies have shown that the shelf life of cryobanked sperm is more than 20 years.

We are regularly inspected by the health authorities in the USA, the European Union and the Scandinavian countries.