A sperm bank gives you donors who have been screened and tested under FDA rules, usually with genetic carrier screening and a clearer legal path. A known donor gives you someone you know, more control over future contact, and often lower cost, but screening is up to you and your clinic, and parentage law varies a lot by state. If you use a known donor, have both parties get independent legal advice and a written agreement before you try, and ask a family-law attorney whether your conception method affects the donor's legal status where you live.
Neither choice is better for everyone. The right one depends on what you value most: knowing the person, certainty about the law, medical screening, cost, or the kind of relationship you want your child to be able to have with their donor. Below are the main areas to compare, followed by questions to take to a lawyer and a clinic.
Side-by-Side: The Main Differences
| Factor | Sperm bank donor | Known donor |
|---|---|---|
| Infectious disease screening | Required by FDA rules for anonymous donors, including retesting at least six months after donation | Depends on how you conceive; arranging screening through a clinic is strongly advisable |
| Genetic screening | Banks commonly offer carrier screening and family history review; check what each bank includes | Only what you arrange and the donor agrees to |
| Legal parentage | Generally clearer, especially with clinic insemination | Varies by state and by how conception happens; needs a lawyer |
| Future contact | Anonymous, or "open identity" options where the child may request contact later, depending on the bank | Whatever you and the donor agree to, which may change over time |
| Relationship risk | Low; you do not have an existing relationship to protect | Real; expectations can drift, and a friendship or family tie is at stake |
| Cost | Vial, shipping and storage costs, plus clinic fees | Often lower, though screening, legal fees and clinic costs still apply |
The Medical Side: What Screening Actually Covers
In the United States, the FDA regulates donated reproductive tissue under 21 CFR Part 1271. Two parts of those rules matter most when comparing your options:
- Anonymous donors through a bank must go through donor eligibility screening and testing for specified infectious diseases. For anonymous semen donors, the rule also requires collecting and testing a new specimen at least six months after the donation, which is why bank sperm is held before release.
- Directed (known) donors go through screening and testing too when donating through a clinic or bank, but the six-month retest rule for anonymous donors does not apply to them. If a directed donor's eligibility determination is not completed or the results show a risk, the tissue can still be used for that recipient, but it must carry a warning label advising of communicable disease risks.
- Sexually intimate partners are exempt from donor eligibility rules entirely. That exemption is for partners, not for a friend acting as a donor.
Infectious disease testing is only part of the picture. It is worth asking a known donor to have genetic carrier screening, and to share a family medical history, before you proceed. Our guide to preconception genetic screening explains what carrier screening looks for. Done through a fertility clinic, a known-donor arrangement can follow a process similar to a bank's, which also helps with the legal side.
The Legal Side: Parentage Varies by State
This is where known-donor arrangements carry the most risk, and where you most need a family-law attorney who handles assisted reproduction in your state. The law here is state law, and it is not uniform.
Many states have adopted some version of the Uniform Parentage Act. As one example, Washington's version (RCW 26.26A) states plainly that "a donor is not a parent of a child conceived by assisted reproduction." It also says that consent to be a parent of a child conceived this way must be in a record signed by the person giving birth and the intended parent, with narrow exceptions a court can recognize. In a state with rules like these, the paperwork you sign before conception can decide who the legal parents are.
Without the right steps, a known donor could end up with parental rights or obligations nobody intended, or an intended second parent could end up without legal parentage. A private donor agreement helps document intent, but it may not, on its own, settle parentage. Ask your attorney whether a court order, a second-parent or confirmatory adoption, or another step is recommended where you live, especially if you are not married to your partner.
Questions to ask a family-law attorney
The Relationship Side: Talk Before You Try
With a known donor, the hardest problems are often not legal or medical. They are about expectations. A written agreement is the place to put answers to questions like these, even where it is not legally binding on every point:
- What will the child call the donor, and how will you explain who he is?
- How often, if at all, will he see the child? Who decides if that changes?
- Will his partner or future children know? Will his parents?
- How will you handle disagreements years from now?
- If you want siblings, would he donate again?
Families created with known donors describe a range of arrangements, from "family friend" to an involved uncle-like figure. What matters is that everyone agrees before conception, and that you plan for how feelings might change once a real child exists. If you want a deeper co-parenting relationship rather than a donor arrangement, that is a different model with different legal steps.
Thinking ahead to your child
Donor-conceived people increasingly grow up knowing how they were conceived, and consumer DNA testing means a bank donor's identity may not stay hidden forever. Whichever route you choose, plan how and when you will tell your child. Our guide for donor-conceived families covers telling your child and handling questions as they grow.
How the Decision Fits Your Path
Single parents by choice often weigh this decision differently from couples; see fertility paths for single parents by choice. Same-sex couples have additional options, such as one partner providing eggs while the other carries; see family-building options for same-sex couples. For a broader overview of donor eggs and sperm, read donor eggs and sperm explained, or browse the family-building hub.
If you are considering home insemination with a known donor, FertileStart's at-home insemination guide covers the practical steps, but read the legal section above first.
For couples, ConceiveGuide's overview of LGBTQ+ family-building options and its guide to reciprocal IVF go deeper on clinical routes.
Frequently Asked Questions
The Bottom Line
A sperm bank offers standardized screening and clearer legal lines. A known donor offers familiarity and openness but asks more of you: arranging screening, paying for legal advice, and having honest conversations about the future. Whichever you choose, get medical screening through a clinic, sign the right paperwork before conception, and ask a family-law attorney in your state how parentage works where you live.
Exploring your family-building options?
Our family-building hub covers donor conception, adoption, surrogacy and more.
Visit the Family-Building Hub →- FDA, 21 CFR 1271.90: exceptions from donor eligibility requirements and labeling for directed reproductive donors (eCFR). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-L/part-1271/subpart-C/section-1271.90
- FDA, 21 CFR 1271.85: donor testing, including retesting of anonymous semen donors (eCFR). https://www.ecfr.gov/current/title-21/chapter-I/subchapter-L/part-1271/subpart-C/section-1271.85
- Washington State, RCW 26.26A.605: parental status of donor. https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=26.26A.605
- Washington State, RCW 26.26A.615: consent to assisted reproduction. https://app.leg.wa.gov/RCW/default.aspx?cite=26.26A.615