My Sperm Deposit Experience.

Talking about this now takes me back to some uncomfortable memories, and that's why it is so important to have this episode, even though I'm as red as a beetroot talking about this now. I realised that I had no guidance on how to do my sperm deposit. No one explained the steps.

It was a taboo subject. And when I was finished, I still had no idea if I had done it correctly. And this is why. Let me paint the picture for you. When I got to the clinic, I walked in and felt as if all eyes were on me, knowing what I was about to do, go to a room and have the worst masturbation of my life.

After what felt like hours, a staff member shouted my name to the world, gave me a plastic cup, and led me off to the collection room. I asked if I needed to fill it up, and they said no. Once is enough. Just get the sperm into the cup, don't get it on the rim, don't pick it up off the floor, don't take any from your hand or anywhere else.

Just keep the sperm that shot into the cup as sterile as possible. I entered the room. There was a single bed covered in that crinkle paper you find in hospitals, a TV and CD player, and a rack of porn magazines. Knowing that someone else had been in here 10 minutes earlier doing the same thing as me, felt gross.

I also expected to find some form of lube in the room, but to last there was none for a circumcised penis. It's a sandpaper moment. As lube can have spermicide in it, and saliva can have bacteria, so neither are allowed. The day before, I had manscaped to make sure that no pubes were to fall into the cup.

However, now I know that the lab can just remove them if one happens to fall in. You must not ejaculate for between two to five days before the deposit. I had thought, the bigger the load, the better. But it's about quality, not quantity. So no more than five days. Then, I came in the plastic cup, and instead of being relaxed, I was worried about the quantity in the cup.

Was it too little, or was it enough? I left my sample in the room for the nurse to take for testing. Then, Back out through the waiting room, looking at the ground, avoiding eye contact, and as quickly as I could, I left the building. A completely different walk of shame. The clinic froze my sperm in five separate vials and sent me the results two days later.

One vial is for embryo creation and the rest is kept as a backup. Since they provided one year of sperm storage in their fees, It was a no brainer to keep it there. A year later, I started to pay a monthly storage fee, which I was happy to do. Because I just didn't know if in the future, I would be able to produce good quality sperm.

And this gave me peace of mind. If you enjoyed this episode, and would like to learn more about IVF and surrogacy, then please subscribe wherever you listen to your podcasts. Also, please share and follow our social media handle, at IVFDADDIES. We are here to answer any questions and to guide you through this very personal process.