Family Building for Single Individuals
Pacific Fertility has helped many single individuals, both women and men, achieve parenthood. For single women the treatment options include:
- Sperm donation, with or without fertility medications
- IVF with donor sperm
- IVF with donor sperm and donor eggs, if necessary
For single men, the option we offer is IVF with egg donation and a gestational carrier.
Family Building for Single Women
- Simple sperm donation and intrauterine insemination using sperm from a bank, or less commonly, from a known sperm donor, with or without the use of fertility-enhancing medications
- IVF with donor sperm
- IVF with donor sperm and donor eggs
If a sperm donor is required, we can provide referrals to reliable sperm banks. Depending on the age of our patients and other possible fertility factors, we may or may not recommend adjunctive treatment with fertility medications.
If the patient wishes to use a known sperm donor, there are several requirements, including compliance with all infectious disease testing as required by the FDA, a physical exam and psychological counseling for the donor and recipient couple. Additionally, we require freezing the sperm specimen in advance of the treatment cycle. We also strongly recommend a legal agreement when possible co-parenting relationships are expected. Learn more about using a Known Sperm Donor.
Family Building for Single Men
IVF with a Gestational Carrier and Egg Donor
"Surrogate" or "gestational surrogate" is an older term for what we now refer to as a "gestational carrier." A gestational carrier is woman who accepts to bear (or be pregnant with) the embryos created from the eggs of another woman. In the case of single men, the egg provider is either an anonymous or known egg donor. The gestational carrier provides a host uterus for the offspring, and does not contribute genetic material, i.e. is not the egg provider. Typically, the eggs donated by the donor are inseminated in the In Vitro Fertilization laboratory with the sperm of the single male. The resulting embryos are then transferred to the uterus of the gestational carrier, who has been taking hormones to shut off her own ovulation and to also prepare her uterus for receipt of the embryos.
Pacific Fertility Center will refer the prospective intended parent to a Gestational Carrier agency that assists intended parents in selecting a gestational carrier. Some intended parents may have a family member or close friend that volunteers to be a gestational carrier. We still require an agency as intermediary. There are strict guidelines that we follow to ensure that this is a safe and efficient process for all involved parties. We do not recommend loose relationships or attempts to locate potential gestational carriers online without going through a gestational carrier agency. This is an intensive process that requires exacting adherence to FDA regulations and national guidelines and should not be undertaken without significant experience and expertise.
In addition, Pacific Fertility Center is able to assist with egg donation through our own in house Egg Donor Agency. Additionally, we will also support and coordinate cycles if a patient chooses an egg donor through another agency or wish to use a known donor.
Please see the linked pages for more information on working with Gestational Carriers and Egg Donors.