We select our donors mainly originally from Greece and Eastern European countires, as i.e. Poland and Ukraine, usually in their twenties and often with young children of their own.  Our darker haired Greek donors tend to be a good match for our Italian and even Asian patients, but our blonde, blue eyed donors often give an excellent match for our German and Scandinavian recipients.  So we can match almost all Caucasian colourings. 
All donors are screened for infections and hereditary diseases and their family medical history is reviewed before they are accepted.  They are regularly tested for Syphilis, HIV-1, HIV-2, Hepatitis B & C, gonorrhea, herpes and any other sexually transmitted disease. They have never used intravenous drugs except during medical treatment. We screen for many genetic and infectious diseases, including sickle cell, thalassemias, Chlamydia karyotype, cystic fibrosis (75% of the genes – the remaining risk is 0,6%, namely 1/166), haemoglobinopathies and whatever the clinic considers will be beneficial in the specific case.

Donors are recruited only by word of mouth (advertising for donors is not legal in Greece), so donors tend to be friends of previous donors who become familiar with the process whilst their friend is donating.  We are very careful about which donors can be accepted on to the program, and we try to attract donors who will have a long term relationship with the clinic.  They know that they help other people fulfill their dream for a child and they are aware of how sacred this purpose is.

We don’t accept donations from women who in severe financial difficulties or under other severe stresses as we feel it would not be a true donation and could be psychologically harmful to the donor in later years if she regretted a donation she made under duress.