Practical guides · Treatment and donors

What does donor sperm cost?

On 14 November 2026, one straw from a large sperm bank cost from about €100 to $2,397, before shipping and tax. The clinic charges for each insemination on top. Most women need several attempts, so plan the cost of several cycles.

Checked November 2026Prices change: check the bank’s own page

This guide is published on the website of a man who offers to help a woman have a child: see the two options. The guide gives the facts as they are, whether or not they suit his offer. How these guides are written.

What one straw costs at a sperm bank

At the four banks we checked, one straw (or vial) of donor sperm cost from about €100 to $2,397. We read each bank’s own price page on 14 November 2026.

VAT depends on the country of treatment: at European Sperm Bank, 17% to 27% in the European Union, 20% in the UK, and none in most other countries. In Cryos’s own example, one IUI uses 1 straw and one ICI uses 2.

What makes a straw cost more

The same bank can charge twice as much for one donor as for another, because of these things:

• Identity release. Some donors agree that the child can learn who they are as an adult. Banks call this “ID release” or “ID disclosure”. At California Cryobank it costs $1,897, against $897 for an anonymous donor.
• Motility grade. Sperm movement is called motility. Banks sell grades such as MOT5, MOT10 and MOT20: a higher number means more moving sperm. At European Sperm Bank, a non-ID straw costs €775 at MOT5 and €925 at MOT20.
• Fewer families per donor. A donor who helps fewer families costs more: up to €1,870 a straw at European Sperm Bank.
• Extended profile. At Cryos, an “extended profile” describes the donor at more length, and reading it is free. We could not confirm whether these donors cost more. Fairfax sells profile documents from $26 to $149.
• Extras. Adult photos, genetic matching and storage cost extra at European Sperm Bank and Cryos.

Shipping to another country

Shipping to another country cost €315 to €715 at European Sperm Bank and $765 to $1,295 at Fairfax, per shipment. One shipment can carry several straws. As far as we could see on their pages, none of the four banks sends sperm to a private address outside the United States.

• European Sperm Bank: €130 in Denmark, €315 in Europe, €715 outside Europe, without VAT. It ships “only” to approved clinics or registered health professionals, in over 70 countries, but not to the United States. It says Danish law forbids sending donor sperm to a home address.
• Cryos: €100 to €712, with VAT. Sperm is “delivered to a fertility clinic of your choice”. Some countries need an import permit first: for France, the clinic must apply.
• California Cryobank: $499 inside the United States. Abroad, the price depends on the address: ask the bank. It ships to a home address only inside the United States, and not in New York State.
• Fairfax Cryobank: $899 to Europe, $765 to Central and South America, $875 to Asia, the Middle East and Australia, and $1,295 to Africa. It “cannot ship out sperm as home deliveries” outside the United States.

So abroad, you usually need a clinic that agrees to receive the sperm. Ask the clinic first, and check that the bank ships to your country.

What a clinic charges for one insemination

The clinic’s fee for each insemination comes on top of the sperm. These are examples, not a world price list. Each has its date.

• United Kingdom: an NHS hospital in Coventry charges £1,040 for one IUI with donor sperm. A bought vial adds about £1,000 to £2,600, with shipping. Prices from 1 November 2025.
• Denmark: a private clinic in Aarhus charges €532 for one donor IUI, without the sperm, medicines or blood tests. Page not dated, seen in 2026.
• Germany: a sperm bank in Erlangen lists €700 per sample, €150 shipping, and about €200 to €400 for the treatment (2026).
• Russia: a Moscow clinic charges 35,000 roubles for one insemination without medicines, and 18,000 roubles for donor sperm. Price list from 9 January 2025.
• Côte d’Ivoire: in October 2026, a hospital in Bingerville listed IUI with donor sperm at 425,000 FCFA, without medicines. Its undated price page did not say who may use it, and it was offline in November 2026.
• Kenya: a Nairobi clinic is listed at KES 90,000 for donor IUI with medicine, perhaps without the sperm. Donor sperm is reported to cost about KES 50,000 (2025).
• United States: one clinic gives $1,200 to $2,350 or more for one IUI, before the donor sperm. Page not dated.

In some places, public health care pays. France pays for up to 6 inseminations, but the average wait was 17.7 months in 2025. Quebec and most Swedish regions also pay for up to 6.

How many attempts to plan for

Plan for several attempts: in UK clinics in 2018, about 1 donor insemination in 8 led to a birth. The UK regulator (HFEA) found a birth rate of 13% per cycle. For single women it was 9%, mostly because they were older (38 on average).

Over several cycles, the chance grows. The UK health guideline (NICE) says 47% to 57% of women under 40 get pregnant within 6 cycles of IUI, and 72% to 81% within 12. At age 40 to 42, it is 31% within 6. After 6 donor inseminations without a pregnancy, NICE advises 6 more IUI cycles before IVF.

To estimate a total, add the clinic fee and the sperm for one cycle, then multiply by the cycles you may need. For example, 6 cycles at the Coventry prices: 6 × (£1,040 + £1,000 to £2,600) is £12,240 to £21,840, before medicines and other fees.

Costs with a donor you know

With a donor you know, you buy no straws, but there are still costs:

• His tests. He should have recent laboratory tests, and repeat them. See tests to ask a donor for.
• Clinic checks. In the UK and the United States, a known donor at a clinic has the same tests as any donor, and the clinic charges for them.
• Freezing and waiting. The US doctors’ society (ASRM) advises freezing his sperm, waiting 35 days, and testing him again. A UK NHS clinic charges £650 for sperm freezing and £350 to store 2 samples for 1 year (January 2026).
• Bank rules. In Denmark, a public hospital may ask that your donor’s sperm and tests go through an approved sperm bank, at your cost.
• The legal father. In some countries, a donor can become the legal father. The rule depends on the country and on how you get pregnant. See donor sperm, country by country and registering the birth.

If you are thinking of a donor you know

This website is one man’s offer. He is a healthy man in his forties. He helps a woman have a child in one of two ways: as a father who stays in touch from far away, or by artificial insemination, after which he steps away. See the two options.

Checked November 2026. A guide only, not financial or medical advice. Banks and clinics change their prices often: check their own pages, and ask the clinic for a full price list before you start.

Sources

• European Sperm Bank, “Donor sperm prices” and “Ordering and shipment” (europeanspermbank.com), checked November 2026.
• Cryos International, “Prices and payment”, “How to order donor sperm” and “Basic or extended” profiles (cryosinternational.com), checked November 2026.
• California Cryobank, “Vial pricing” and “Shipping and storage”, updated 10 November 2026, and page for healthcare professionals (cryobank.com), checked November 2026.
• Fairfax Cryobank, “Fees” (fairfaxcryobank.com) and “Can I have a home insemination shipment sent to my home in my state?”, updated 6 February 2024 (support.fairfaxcryobank.com), checked November 2026.
• United Kingdom: University Hospitals Coventry and Warwickshire NHS Trust, Centre for Reproductive Medicine, price list effective 1 November 2025 (uhcw.nhs.uk); Salisbury NHS Foundation Trust, fertility centre treatment prices, January 2026 (salisbury.nhs.uk), checked November 2026.
• Denmark: Aagaard Fertilitetsklinik, prices (aagaardklinik.dk); Order 1452 of 1 December 2025 on assisted reproduction, § 19 (retsinformation.dk), checked November 2026.
• Germany: Erlanger Samenbank, “Kosten einer Behandlung” (erlanger-samenbank.de), checked November 2026.
• Russia: MCRM, price list from 9 January 2025 (mcrm.ru), checked November 2026.
• Côte d’Ivoire: Hôpital Mère-Enfant de Bingerville, “Base tarifaire” (hmebingerville.ci), read October 2026; offline in November 2026.
• Kenya: Victoria IVF & Fertility Centre listing (my1health.com); Nation Media Group article, 22 March 2025, reported (read on mwananchi.co.tz), checked November 2026.
• United States: Illume Fertility, “IUI costs” (illumefertility.com), checked November 2026; 21 CFR 1271.90 (eCFR); ASRM and SART, “Gamete and embryo donation guidance”, Fertility and Sterility 122(5), 2024, checked October 2026.
• France: Service-Public, “PMA” (service-public.gouv.fr); Agence de la biomédecine, 13 April 2026. Quebec: Medically Assisted Reproduction Program (quebec.ca). Sweden: Socialstyrelsen (socialstyrelsen.se), checked November 2026.
• HFEA, “Family formations in fertility treatment 2018”, 22 September 2020, and “Using donated eggs, sperm or embryos in treatment” (hfea.gov.uk), checked November 2026.
• NICE, guideline NG257 “Fertility problems: assessment and treatment”, March 2026, recommendation 1.4.2, table 2 and visual summary on artificial insemination (nice.org.uk, read through the UK Government Web Archive), checked November 2026.