Every year, thousands of women use sperm banks to become mothers despite circumstances that would otherwise make it difficult to become pregnant. Women who are single, have infertile male partners, or are in same-sex relationships particularly benefit from sperm banks. In addition, couples who are at high risk of inherited diseases, such as Tay-Sachs disease and cystic fibrosis, may also use donor sperm to produce a child.
It is important to understand that while sperm banks help couples who have fertility issues, they do not provide a physical cure for infertility. Women who become pregnant through the most common types of artificial insemination (intra-cervical insemination and intra-uterine insemination) must themselves be fertile. Children conceived through artificial insemination will be genetically related to the sperm donor, not the mother’s partner (unless they are the same person).