Complaints

The complaint text that is displayed might not represent all complaints filed with BBB. Some consumers may elect to not publish the details of their complaints, some complaints may not meet BBB's standards for publication, or BBB may display a portion of complaints when a high volume is received for a particular business.

• Initial Complaint

  Date:12/29/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  Seattle Sperm Bank 1.) Failed to keep the purchasers of a sperm donor's specimen private. We now have everyone's contact information.2.) SSB states that they only allow 25 families to acquire sperm however, there are over one hundred families have purchased multiple vials from said sperm donor. We want an investigation. Did the sperm donor donate over one hundred vials? Is the sperm from one donor or multiple? Is our child the genetic offspring of this donor or someone else?We have also reported them to the ****

  Business Response

  Date: 12/30/2022

  Seattle Sperm Bank did a medical update notification regarding new genetic test results for donor 12689.  However, something went wrong with our notification system and the email message was sent with the recipients email addresses in the "To:" line, instead of the "bCC:" line.  This was not intended and we are still investigating the cause of this error.  However, email address are not considered Protected Health Information (PHI) unless associated with Medical Records tied to the email address in question.  This is not the case, and thus, not a breach of PHI compliancy.  Nonetheless, we take this error very seriously, and we are working to determine how this error occurred, to prevent it from ever happening again. 
  
  Additionally, there were several email addresses in the message that should not have been included or received this medical update notification.  This too is a part of the investigation, as to why these recipients were notified who did not use donor 12689. 
  
  Seattle Sperm Bank's family limit policy is 25 families in the USA, and then we follow all other country specific family limitations.  The average number of families per donor, for those donors who have at least one birth reported, is 13 families.  

  Any further questions that clients may have can be directed to *****************************************************************************;

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/09/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  UnansweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

  My son recently died Seattle Sperm bank up until the morning of 8.8.2022 posted a standard of care on FB and LinkedIn that I trusted was being completed through *** accreditation and AATB certification. Please see the link to my video here **********************************************************************************. I learned last night by speaking to AATB that they were falsely using the trademark on linked and FB where they buy ads. They changed the site.My son ***** died of a grade 4 hemorrhag caused by a number of issues including a Variant of Unknown Genetic significant in PHKB that *** have lead to the issues he had with low blood sugar. I reported this to seattle sperm bank. Although I was informed by ********** conceptions who I used for the *** that SSB had 0 mention of any other children who born from this donor I learned over 20 children were born and 1 died of holoprosephely (another complicated brain issue) Having had a child in a NICU with a brain issue for 29 days I asked why I wasn't informed of this. I was told by Seattle including ******** the *** of the below policy> https://www.yelp.com/biz/seattle-sperm-bank-seattlte "Seattle Sperm Bank tracks all adverse outcomes that are reported to us by our customers/distributors. If SSB is informed that a child resulting from one of our donors receives a diagnosis, an investigation will be opened. We will review....pregnancy reports from the donor, and the egg sources history. If a child resulting from the donor has a genetic diagnosis,...specifically with recommended testing, that *** have been inherited, we will contact the donor and request that the donor complete genetic..." I then learned from ******** at SSB that they never completed reviewed the genetic testing from the mother, later I learn from ****** that the mother never did any testing. So a lie. I then learned the donor has a brother donor who is a carrier of disease reported in 2020. I ask why this wasn't updated before 2021

• Initial Complaint

  Date:08/08/2022

  Type:Service or Repair Issues
  Status:

  AnsweredMore info

  Complaint statuses

  Resolved:

  The complainant verified the issue was resolved to their satisfaction.

  Unresolved:

  The business responded to the dispute but failed to make a good faith effort to resolve it.

  Answered:

  The business addressed the issues within the complaint, but the consumer either a) did not accept the response, OR b) did not notify BBB as to their satisfaction.

  Unanswered:

  The business failed to respond to the dispute.

  Unpursuable:

  BBB is unable to locate the business.

   
  Complaint: 17688355
  
  I am rejecting this response because:
  It has been 5 years since Seattle Sperm Bank relinquished these credentials yet they continued to falsely claim them to mislead the public. No one can be assured of compliance with the standards that they claim since SSB has no outside oversight. This is a business that claims a high level of quality falsely, continues to post they have the credentials but really gives it up because they dont want to pay the fees. To hold an accreditation and comply with standards means the business has a high quality product. SSB wanted everything without paying for for the credentials and without having to comply with the quality standards and continuing to publish they had the accreditation.  This is the definition of fraud and poor business practices designed to misrepresent themselves as a quality agency. 
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************

  Business Response

  Date: 08/19/2022

  Seattle Sperm Bank was accredited and licensed by AATB until 2017. Seattle Sperm Bank has continued to follow and conform to ***** Standards and Directives since 2017 but have chosen not to pay the large fees to maintain licensure.  

  Business Response

  Date: 08/26/2022

  The party(ies) responsible for updating Seattle Sperm Bank's ************ (where the claim of affiliation/certification was located) did not update this information following Seattle Sperm Bank's decision to no longer pay for certification with AATB.  This information has been correctly updated. 
  
  If the consulting pediatric Geneticist communicates directly to Seattle Sperm Bank what test(s) they recommend the donor to undergo, we will reach out to the donor to request the donor complete the additional testing.  However, as has been made clear by the Geneticist, they do not have recommended testing for the donor to complete. 

  Customer Answer

  Date: 09/13/2022

   
  Complaint: 17688355
  
  I am rejecting this response because: The response from the Seattle Sperm Bank continues to mislead and blame others.  For FIVE YEARS Seattle Sperm Bank failed to pay for an accreditation they did not earn!  The following is from the ******************** of ****** Banks regarding accreditation:
  
  An applicant for accreditation must submit a properly completed application for accreditation, on a form provided by AATB, accompanied by payment of the application fee and any other required fees or payments. If qualified, the applicant is required to be inspected by the Associations inspector(s). The inspector(s) will create a report for the ************************ which has the right to approve, deny, withdraw or suspend an application for accreditation, subject to review by the ***** of ******************* An Accredited Institutional Member is deemed to be in good standing unless the ***** of ********* determines in its sole discretion that the member has: 1) failed to timely pay all dues, fees and charges owed to the Association; 2) failed to maintain its accreditation by the Association; 3) failed to comply with these Bylaws; or 4) engaged in conduct that is not in compliance with the rules, policies, standards, codes and requirements, or is contrary to the interests, of the Association.
  
  
  The only accreditation program for tissue establishments, recognizing the highest commitment to the quality and safety of donated
  
  Section **** Mission
       The mission of the Association is to honor donors and to save and improve lives by promoting the safety, quality and availability of donated tissue for transplantation, and non-transplant anatomical material for education and research. **** seeks to accomplish its mission by establishing and promulgating standards, administering accreditation and certification programs, interacting with regulatory agencies and legislative officials, and fostering education and research.
   
  Also Seattle Sperm Bank has a geneticist on staff per their website: (see attached)
  

  
  

  To continue to ask an out of state consulting geneticist of an offspring of SSB donor who died to order and recommend testing is a blatant abdication of any ethical and medical responsibility of the poor outcome. SSB wants to walk away from the fact that 2 offspring of the same donor have died of neurological issues. SSB refuses to investigate and test the donor and do a complete accurate medical history for the sake of the donor, all his offspring and any future offspring. By the way I have NEVER been told the name of SSBs geneticist. I suppose another falsehood. 
  **************************;
  

  
  

  
  
  Sincerely,
  
  *****************************