Egg and Sperm Donor Screening for IVF in Colombia: What to Ask the Clinic

Why screening deserves its own conversation

When people compare donor programs, most of the talk is about matching, waiting time and price. Screening gets one line in the brochure: "all donors are fully screened." That line can mean very different things. One program may run a short infectious-disease panel. Another may do expanded genetic carrier testing, a structured psychological evaluation and a three-generation family history.

This guide covers only the screening part: which tests, which rules, which records. For comparing whole donor programs on cost and logistics, see our guide on comparing the donor program, not just the cycle price.

The Colombian rules in brief

Colombia does not have one modern law on donor conception. The working rules come from Decreto 1546 de 1998, which regulates anatomical components, including gametes and the units that handle them. In September 2025 the Ministry of Health issued Circular 030 de 2025 on moving gametes and embryos into and out of the country. For donor selection, the circular still points back to that decree and to Resolución 3199 de 1998 (MinSalud, 2025).

The decree's text, as published by the Ministry of Health (Decreto 1546, 1998), sets out several points worth knowing:

• Who can't donate. Minors are excluded. So are people linked to the reproductive unit or its cryobank, the referring physician, relatives of the patients, and anyone with risk factors for HIV, sexually transmitted infections or other transmissible infections.
• What happens before enrollment. A physical examination, a genetic consultation with a karyotype, a psychological examination, and laboratory tests, including HIV antibody testing.
• When a donor is rejected or retired. This happens after 10 pregnancies with the same donor's semen, when test results are unsatisfactory, when the donor has had a blood transfusion in the previous six months, or when the donor turns out to be registered at two or more institutions.
• Quarantine. The quarantine article covers gametes and pre-embryos. It sets a minimum of six months, with storage at no warmer than −196 °C.
• Records. Units must keep a special clinical file on each donor and report quarterly to health authorities, including new donors, outcomes per donor and rejected donors.

A 1998 decree was written before vitrified donor-egg banks and consumer DNA testing became common. So treat these rules as a legal floor. Then ask how the clinic goes beyond it.

How Colombia's rules compare with ASRM's 2024 guidance

The American Society for Reproductive Medicine updated its donor guidance in 2024 (ASRM, 2024). It is written for the United States and is not binding in Colombia. It is still a useful, detailed benchmark to hold a Colombian program's answers against.

The gaps are where your questions go. A clinic can meet the Colombian decree and still offer a narrower genetic panel than ASRM suggests. Or it may do more than both. You can't tell until you ask.

Infectious-disease screening: questions to ask

ASRM lists a broad infection panel. It covers HIV-1 and HIV-2, hepatitis B and C, syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea, plus HTLV and cytomegalovirus testing for sperm donors. ASRM also ties testing to set windows around the donation. Ask the Colombian clinic:

• Which infections does your donor panel include, and which test methods are used (antibody, antigen, nucleic-acid testing)?
• How close to the actual donation date was the donor tested? Is testing repeated before frozen material is released?
• For donor sperm, how does the six-month quarantine in Decreto 1546 work in practice? When will my sample be released?
• For donor eggs, how do you apply the quarantine article? Does the answer differ between fresh and vitrified donor eggs?
• What happens if a later test on the donor comes back positive after material has already been used?

Genetic screening: questions to ask

"Genetic screening" ranges from a karyotype alone to a panel of hundreds of conditions. Ask for the panel name and the list of conditions, not a summary. Then ask:

• Was a karyotype done? What was the result, in de-identified form?
• Which carrier panel was used? Is it ethnicity-based or pan-ethnic?
• If the donor carries a condition, will the clinic check whether the other genetic contributor (partner or sperm source) carries the same one?
• Who explains results to you: a geneticist, a genetic counselor or the treating physician?

Being a carrier is common and doesn't by itself exclude a donor. What matters is the combination with the other gamete source. So you also need to know what testing is planned for you or your partner.

Medical, family and psychological history

Ask how far back the family history goes, who collects it and whether it is checked against anything. Ask whether the psychological exam is a structured evaluation or a short interview, and who performs it. If the donor has donated before, ask how old the last evaluation is.

Also ask what the clinic does if new medical information about a donor emerges years later, and whether it has a way to reach recipients who live outside Colombia.

How donor use is counted and tracked

The decree's limit of 10 pregnancies per semen donor, and its rule against donors registered at more than one institution, only work if pregnancies are actually reported back. International recipients often get pregnancy care at home, so the clinic may never hear the outcome. Ask:

• How do you count pregnancies from one donor, including those of patients who go home?
• Will you ask me to report my outcome? How?
• How do you check that a donor isn't also donating at another clinic?
• What limit do you apply to egg donors?

Identity, confidentiality and DNA tests

Decreto 1546 allows a donor to be anonymous or known. The 2025 circular requires providers to keep a confidential donor register and to protect that data under Colombia's data-protection laws (MinSalud, 2025). ASRM now uses the word "non-directed" instead of "anonymous." It says consumer DNA testing and social media mean donors and recipients should both be told that anonymity may not last (ASRM, 2024).

Ask what non-identifying information you will receive. Ask what the clinic keeps, and for how long. Ask whether a donor-conceived adult could ever request information through the clinic.

If donor material or embryos will cross a border

Under Circular 030 de 2025, only authorized health-service providers may bring gametes or embryos into or out of Colombia. They must report each movement to INVIMA within 24 hours. The report includes a declaration that donor-selection requirements were met. If you might ship embryos made with donor gametes home later, ask now whether the clinic can supply that declaration and the screening documents your home country may want. Our guide to embryo storage consent for international patients covers the consent side.

What to get in writing before you accept a match

To confirm that the clinic itself is properly registered before you rely on its screening, use our steps to verify a fertility clinic in Colombia.

Medical disclaimer: MedellinIVF.co is an independent educational and lead-navigation site, not a fertility clinic. Nothing on this page is diagnosis, treatment advice or a guarantee of outcome. Prices and policies change. Verify current information directly with the treating clinic and appropriate Colombian registries.