We now accept that families come in all shapes and sizes; gone are the days when an unmarried woman had to give up on her dreams of being a mother, and women in same-sex relationships had to be satisfied being aunts and godmothers. But for those prospective mothers questions remain. Questions such as ‘How do I get pregnant?’, ‘Should I use donor sperm?’, ‘How do I find a sperm donor?’ I’ve chosen the right sperm donor, now what?’.

Of course, a woman can use a flesh and blood partner they trust to be clear of disease and genetic anomalies. But, if that’s not possible, they can now approach a sperm bank.

Thousands of women feel safer in the knowledge that all London Sperm Bank donations are disease free and that all our donors have been vetted for familial genetic disorders.

The process for vetting a sperm donor takes around six months and requires a great deal of commitment, time and testing from the men. Contrary to popular belief the role they perform is neither easy nor well paid. If a man embarks on this journey, his reasons are often very personal and altruistic. If a member of the donor’s family has had trouble conceiving and had to use donor eggs or sperm a man might want to enter the programme to ‘pay it forward’ as it were and help another struggling couple. This idea of receiving help and giving help is a common thread through many donor stories. The donors also supply key biographical data such as their interests, education and job as well as essentials such as eye and hair colour, height, weight and physicality. This information is provided so the recipient can make an informed choice about the characteristics that they hope would appear in their child. Some women might look to match their features such as tall, brown eyes, academic whereas some others might choose the features of their ideal partner. Whatever factors are involved in choosing your sperm donor the science has its peculiarities, and prospective mothers should know that nothing is ever guaranteed.

If, for example, a patient is seeking insemination treatment with The London Women’s Clinic and has chosen her sperm donor via the London Sperm Bank then an appointment is made for the procedure. The chosen sample is removed from cryopreservation, delivered to the clinic and thawed. Once the patient is ready, and the sperm is at the optimum temperature the insemination procedure will be performed by a qualified medical professional who is on hand to offer advice and reassurance. An over the counter pregnancy test will confirm success, and from here the pregnancy should be much the same as anyone else's.

This may seem alien and strange, but it’s worth noting that The London Sperm Bank has been helping thousands of single women and lesbian couples realise their dreams of motherhood since 2010 and in the UK over 1300 babies are born each year from donated sperm. The clinic has a stock of over 25,000 vials of sperm in storage from over 500 fully screened donors. Thanks to technical and social advances woman can now find a sperm donor with a few taps of a keyboard or even with the London Sperm Bank app.