• In short: Victorians hoping to start a family will be able to access sperm and egg donations for free in Australia’s first public egg and sperm bank
• What’s next? The government has urged Victorians to altruistically donate their sperm or eggs to the fund

Australia has opened its first free public egg and sperm bank in Victoria in what a fertility expert has described as an “ambitious” bid to reduce barriers to starting a family.

The bank at the Royal Women’s Hospital has begun accepting egg and sperm donations from eligible Victorians.

Hopeful parents looking to access donated eggs or sperm will need to be referred by their GP or specialist.

The program is part of a $120 million initiative which also includes public fertility services such as IVF treatments, diagnostic tests and procedures, and counselling.

The initiative will also support Victorians currently undergoing treatment for medical conditions that could compromise fertility, such as cancer, to freeze their eggs or sperm.

Premier Daniel Andrews said the bank expected to receive about 400 sperm donations and about 40 egg donations per year, amounting to nearly 3,500 IVF cycles per year.

“This is going to support literally thousands and thousands of people right across our state to be a step closer to that dream of either starting or adding to a family,” he said.

“I can’t think of a better, more important way to invest for the future than to deliver those services on equitable terms, where your bank balance, your financial means has nothing to do with realising that dream.”

Donation targets ‘ambitious’

Prior to the opening of this public bank, IVF treatments were a costly undertaking that was only available privately or from overseas donors, with each IVF cycle costing up to $10,000, while sperm and eggs could cost up to $4,000 per donation.

Medical director of Sydney’s City Fertility clinic Dr Devora Lieberman said if successful, the bank could be a “wonderful thing”, but warned it would be hard-pressed to achieve such “ambitious” donation targets.

She said finding that many people to donate their sperm and eggs will be a major challenge.

“People have been trying to recruit sperm donors all across Australia for decades so I don’t know why the Victorian government thinks it’s suddenly going to be more successful at it than people who have been trying to do it for decades.

“It’s a big deal to donate your DNA… because you’re talking about having genetic children out there.”

In Australia, it is illegal to pay people to donate their blood, tissues, sperm or eggs, meaning hopeful parents must rely on altruistic donations of eggs and sperm.

Donors must also be happy to be contacted by any potential children when they turn 18, which Dr Lieberman said can be another reason some are reluctant to donate.

Removing fertility’s financial barriers

Acting Health Minister Gabrielle Williams said removing the costs associated with IVF will assist thousands of Victorians each year.

“The cost of these services can be a great prohibitor to start or adding to their families. These services open doors for people that may not have been available otherwise.” 

As a mother whose son Rory was made possible with the help of a sperm donation, Ms Williams described the free public bank as “a gift” and urged Victorians to consider donating.

The government said satellite fertility services will also be established across the state in a bid to make care more accessible.

This includes in Bendigo, Shepparton, Geelong, Ballarat, Warrnambool, Sunshine Epping and Heidelberg, which will become part of the program by the end of the year.

It comes after the first free public IVF bank opened in Melbourne in October last year, helping to support up to 5,000 Victorians to start a family each year.

Mr Andrews said there had been 1,200 referrals to the program since it began last year and 550 cycles of treatment.