IVF with donor sperm

IVF with donor sperm

There is an opinion that the absence of children in a modern family is the fault of the fair sex. However, to date, reproductive specialists have proven that, in reality, everything is not quite so. After all, more than 45% of currently known cases of infertility in marriages are due to male factors.

The inability to conceive, attributed to male infertility as the root cause, is one of the indications for the utilization of modern reproductive technologies, including IVF using donor sperm. In this form of fertilization, the wife’s egg is fertilized using sperm cells from a donor. However, it is crucial to establish conclusively that the husband’s germ cells are indeed not suitable for use.

For whom and in what cases is IVF with donor sperm recommended?

Targeted artificial insemination is necessary in four cases. Among them:

• Absolute male infertility;
• Genetic ailments of a potential father;
• A woman’s passionate desire to get pregnant, give birth to a baby, but she does not have a husband or a sexual partner;
• The implementation by couples of several fertilization programs with the sperm of a spouse, but the absence of a positive result afterward.

If a man has no testicles due to injuries, castration has been performed, or non-obstructive azoospermia has been diagnosed, then even fertilization through IVF will not help. In the latter case, it involves a pathological condition with the absence of spermatozoa directly in the ejaculate. If the future father is affected by a hereditary disease, with a risk of the same pathology in the fetus exceeding 25%, and there is no technical possibility to identify whether the embryo is healthy, doctors recommend artificial insemination involving the use of donor sperm. The same applies to genetic diseases linked to sex chromosomes. Single girls deserve special attention. Sometimes, they reach a high level in their careers, are generally successful in life, but do not want to start a family with a man and therefore prefer to have and raise a child alone. A rational solution for such women is the use of donor sperm for the purpose of artificial insemination.

How are donors selected?

To date, there is a specific procedure for selecting sperm donors. These can be men who meet the following requirements:

• Age over 18 but under 35.
• Mentally and physically healthy.
• Have undergone examination by a geneticist and received approval from a specialized specialist.
• Possess quantitative and qualitative indicators of sperm that meet generally accepted standards.

Donor sperm is not used fresh. Spermatozoa are frozen for a six-month quarantine. After this period, the sperm donor is rechecked for the presence of ailments such as AIDS, hepatitis, syphilis.

If negative results are obtained, male germ cells are used in artificial insemination. A small amount of donor sperm is thawed, and the ability of spermatozoa to freeze, as well as to defrost without subsequent loss of quality, is determined. However, if the germ cells cannot tolerate such temperature manipulations, then such a donor is “rejected”.

To carry out an IVF procedure, a personal file is opened for each donor, where the following list of mandatory parameters is indicated:

• blood type;
• Rh factor;
• nationality;
• type of appearance;
• height;
• weight;
• hair color, eyes;
• education.