Donor Instructions

1. Place the vial into your freezer immediately after receiving it. Also place the refrigerated gel packs into your fridge (not freezer), inside their ziploc for a minimum of 24 hours.

2. Abstain from sex and masturbation for a minimum of 1 day and a maximum of 4 days. Studies show the ideal time is 36-48 hours. Ideally, time it so you can drop it off for shipping around opening time to minimize chances of transit delays. On time delivery rates are as follows: UPS; 97.2%, FedEx: 95.3%, Post Office: 94.1%

3. The day of donation, thaw the vial by placing it at room temperature for 45 minutes. As it's thawing, wash your hands thoroughly; remove all soap residue and dry your hands. Do not use lube or lotion to masturbate; collect the semen directly into the container and cover it with its cap immediately. Allow 30 minutes for the sample to liquefy at room temperature. Very rarely will it take longer than this, but if it remains partially coagulated, leave it for an additional 30 minutes. It should flow readily like a liquid when tilting the container, with no clumps or strings. Do not shake the container.

4. Let the TYB vial bathe in a 37°C water bath in a large bowl or container approximately the size of a standard plastic food takeaway container (in a tightly closed double layer ziploc; one ziploc inside the other, with the thermometer inside the inner most ziploc, rubber banded/taped to the vial so the probe directly touches the vial; remove when it reaches 37°C, after about 15 mins), ensuring the ziploc is completely dry before opening, so as to not get the thermometer and vial wet.

4. Put on gloves. Screw the needle into the syringe by twisting it to the right. Remove the blue cap from the vial and Insert the needle into the grey silicone cover and draw the liquid into the needle, ensuring the vial is tilted and the needle sits in the very bottom of the vial to ensure the whole sample is sucked into the syringe.

5. Remove the cap from the semen container and add the liquid to your semen slowly, drop by drop, and occasionally swirl the container gently to mix as you go. Do not shake the container. Swirl it again gently before the next step.

6. Tilt the container to one side and insert the needle into the very bottom of the pool and draw the mixture into the syringe, ensuring you draw the entire sample into the syringe. Gently invert the syringe once or twice to mix the sample. Do not shake the syringe. Hold the syringe needle side up and very slowly push the plunger until most of the air escapes the syringe. A tiny amount of air is fine, try not to waste any sample. Remove the needle by twisting to the left and replace it with the red cap by twisting the cap to the right tightly. Put the syringe into its sterile blue pouch and seal it.

4. Prepare your water bath again, ensuring its 37°C. Ensure the thermometer is completely dry. Put the blue pouch into double layered closed ziplocs (one ziploc inside the other with the dried thermometer inside the inner most ziploc, rubber banded to the blue pouch so the probe directly touches it), put the ziploc in the water bath and place into your fridge (not freezer) until it reaches 4 degrees celsius (1-2 hours). Dry off the outermost ziploc completely and remove the inner ziploc with the pouch, keeping the pouch inside the inner ziploc. Ensure that this ziploc is also dry

5. Wrap the ziploc in several layers of bubble wrap, forming an enclosure that nearly fills the shipping box while leaving room for both gel packs. Remove the gel packs from their ziploc in the fridge and position them around the enclosure and secure them with rubber bands. Minimize empty space inside the box by using enough bubble wrap, and ensure the gel packs do not directly touch the syringe.

6.Use lots of tape on the box, particularly the seams and corners to minimize air leakage. Ship ASAP and use the fastest shipping time your shipping provider offers.