Use of donor sperm is now the usual route for female couples who have their hearts set on having a baby together, and for those wanting to explore this option during Bristol Pride a free information evening, tailored specifically to their needs, will take place at Bristol Centre for Reproductive Medicine on Wednesday 5 July.

The event is free, open to all, and will run from 6pm-8pm at BCRM’s clinic at Aztec West. Spaces are limited so women wishing to attend should contact the clinic to reserve their places in advance.

The evening will start with a presentation by Dr Amanda Jefferys, BCRM’s medical director, followed by a question and answer session. The second part of the evening will include private mini consultations with one of the clinic’s specialist consultants to discuss each couple’s particular circumstances, a tour of the centre, and the opportunity to meet members of the lab team and view the state-of-the-art facility where the specialist IVF, ICSI and IUI treatments take place. 

Amanda Jefferys said: “Our donor sperm information evenings are specifically for same-sex couples or women who wish to become solo mums, and are intended to give them a realistic overview of how we can help them, how much treatment costs, our success rates, use of donor services, and we’ll also look at their likely journey as a patient.

“We’ll explore how sperm donors are screened for a ‘normal’ level of fertility and health - people are often surprised by the wide range of backgrounds they may have.

“We’ll also talk about how - if they decide to go ahead with treatment - our would-be-mums have the chance to specify any characteristics they’d consider it important for their donor to possess, such as ethnic group, height, blood group, and/or hair and eye colour, so that the highly experienced team at BCRM can select a suitable match.

“Our patients are given non-identifying information about the donors, which will include these details and some sperm donors add additional information about themselves in a ‘pen portrait’ which may include hobbies, interests, likes or dislikes. The ‘pen portrait’ can be obtained at any time by the mum or mums and given to their child when they are older.”

The laboratory at BCRM stocks frozen sperm which would be reserved according to a patient’s needs before treatment begins, however purchasing sperm directly from a different centre either in the UK or abroad is another possibility which can be discussed with the team.

Alternatively a same-sex couple may wish to have a baby using sperm from a known donor, and this is another subject which often comes up for discussion at open evenings.

For those women who decide they’d like to have a baby using donor sperm, counselling is offered by BCRM’s experienced fertility counsellor before, during and after treatment, starting with an initial ‘implications’ session to discuss the issues that relate to having a baby this way.

The team at BCRM is committed to equality and diversity initiatives and aims to provide a personalised and holistic approach, ensuring the highest standards of care for all patients.

Feedback from previous attendees has been overwhelmingly positive, with a recent participant posting on social media: “I left the open evening feeling so happy and grateful about the experience. The work and effort the staff put into the open evening was amazing.

“It was very well organised and the staff at BCRM were incredible and so lovely. This makes us feel very trusting for my treatment options in the near future and we would definitely come to BCRM for our future treatment.”

Staff at the clinic are involved in innovative research and BCRM has one of the best success rates with IVF and other fertility treatments in the UK with a success rate of 55.1% vs 34.2% national average.

The ‘Pride’ session will run from 6pm to 8pm on Wednesday 5 July, with ample free parking available. To reserve a place contact BCRM on 0117 259 1159 or e-mail contact@bcrm.clinic