While it’s important to “go local” for other resources on this site, such as doctors, midwives, and lawyers, most lesbian mothers tend to widen their search for sperm banks, simply to consider a wider variety of options. Certain sperm banks may offer more “open-donor” selection, for example, or may cater to gay and lesbian families specifically by gathering more gay male donor sperm. It depends on what criteria best fits your needs. That said, it may be useful to use a local sperm bank for some services, like sperm storage, testing, and collection (should you be using a known donor), but it is not necessary. See below for our list of Sperm Banks in NYC and some of the most commonly used Sperm Banks across the country by lesbian mothers.
GAY-FRIENDLY SPERM BANKS:
BIOGENETICS CORP.
OPEN DONORS
1130 Rte. 22W, P.O. Box 1290
Mountainside, NJ 07092
Phone: 908/654-8836
Fax: 908/232-211
No restrictions; open to single women and lesbian couples.
Notes from the website: “For donors of diversified ethnic origins”
CALIFORNIA CRYOBANK INC.
OPEN DONORS
1019 Gayley Ave.
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Phone: 800/231-3373 or 310/443-5244
Fax: 301-443-5258
No restrictions; open to single women and lesbian couples.
Notes from the website: “Largest and most diverse donor selection in the country”
CRYOBIOLOGY INC.
4830D Knightsbridge Blvd.
Columbus, OH 43214
Phone: 614/451-4375
Fax: 614/451-5284
No restrictions; open to single women and lesbian couples.
Notes from the website: “Majority of our donors are students at local universities, most in graduate or professional schools”
CRYOGENIC LABORATORIES INC.
1944 Lexington Ave., North
Roseville, MN 55113
Phone: 651/489-8000
Fax: 651/489-8989
No restrictions; open to single women and lesbian couples.
Notes from the website: “Founded 40 years ago as the first US sperm bank, fully accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks (AATB)”
CRYOS NEW YORK
90 Maiden Lane, Suite 302
New York, NY 10038
Phone: 866/366-6777 or 212/430-5950
Fax: 917/591-4227
No restrictions; open to single women and lesbian couples
Notes from the website: “We offer donor semen and semen storage services with the ability to ship specimens to more than 65 countries.”
www.ny.crosinternational.com/home.aspx
EUROPEAN SPERM BANK USA
OPEN DONORS
4915 25th Avenue NE, Suite 204
Seattle, WA 98105
Phone: 800/709-1223
Fax: 206/588-1485
No restrictions; open to single women and lesbian couples.
Notes from the website: “Specializes in open identity donors, affiliated with Denmark-based European Sperm Bank”
FAIRFAX CRYOBANK, USA
3015 Williams Dr, Ste. 110
Fairfax, VA 22031
Phone: 800/338-8407 or 703/698-3976
Fax: 703/698-3933
Notes from the website: “We perform the most extensive genetic and infectious disease testing of all sperm banks, extensive donor information”
IDANT LABORATORIES
350 Fifth Ave., Ste. 7120
New York, NY 10118
Phone: 212/244-0555
Fax: 212/244-0806
No restrictions; open to single women and lesbian couples.
Notes from the website: “One of the oldest and largest semen banks in the United States”
PACIFIC REPRODUCTIVE SERVICES
OPEN DONORS
444 DeHaro St., Ste. 222
San Francisco, CA 94107
Phone: 888/469-5800 or 415/487-2288
Fax: 415/863-4358
Notes from the website: “lesbian-owned sperm bank. ..Most ‘willing to be known’ donors, now providing full-face donor video interviews and/or current photos of a broad range of donors.”
MANHATTAN CRYOBANK
OPEN AND ANONYMOUS DONORS
110 East 40th Street
Suite 101, New York, NY 10016
Phone: 877.396.CRYO (2796) OR 212.396.CRYO (2796)
Fax: 212.396.2797
Email: info@manhattancryobank.com
Notes from the website: “follows and adheres to established guidelines and standards for the selection and screening of sperm donors as well as the testing, processing, storage and distribution of semen specimens”
RAINBOW FLAG HEALTH SERVICES AND SPERM BANK
OPEN DONORS
Alameda, CA
Phone: 510/521-7737
Notes from the website: “first sperm bank to actively recruit gay and bisexual sperm donors… only sperm bank to tell the mother who the donor is when the child is three months old… limit our donors to have children by only 4-6 different women…against circumcision”
REPROLAB
332 East 30th Street
New York NY 10016
Phone: (212) 779-3988
Fax: (212) 779-3907
Email: info@reprolabinc.com
Notes from the website: Also offers fertility services; “Located on a quiet mid-Manhattan street, Repro Lab provides a caring environment where every patient receives individual attention”
SPERM BANK OF CALIFORNIA
OPEN DONORS
2115 Milvia St.
Berkeley, CA 94704
Phone: 510/841-1858
Fax: 510/841-0332
Notes from the website: “making the dream of family a reality for diverse families for more than 25 years”
XYTEX CORP.
1100 Emmett St.
Augusta, GA 30904
Phone: 800/277-3210 or 706/733-0130
Fax: 706/736-9720
Notes from the website: “Xytex provides at least 25 million motile sperm per milliliter to be inseminated, the highest of any sperm bank”
ZYGEN LABORATORY
18425 Burbank Blvd., Ste. 411
Tarzana, CA 91356
Phone: 800/255-7242 or 818/705-3600
Fax: 818/705-3640
Notes from the website: “Since its inception in 1981, Zygen Laboratory has been a pioneer and an innovator in the field of reproductive medicine”
Note: Only a relative handful of banks are accredited by the American Association of Tissue Banks. Not being AATB accredited does not mean that a bank is bad, according to HRC.
For a more detailed analysis of the pricing and offerings of top sperm banks, see our Sperm Bank Comparison.