Artificial Insemination Donor (AID)
This treatment consists of placing the sperm issued from a semen bank inside the uterus or the cervical channel. The woman’s menstrual cycle has to be monitored in order to detect when ovulation takes place. In this case the sperm comes from an anonymous donor and is used when for irreversible reasons the partner’s sperm cannot be used (such as in some cases of cancer or azoospermia) or when the woman does not have a male partner.
Artificial Insemination by a donor is a simple and effective procedure as the semen sample is of optimum quality and quantity. The donor is a healthy male who has been previously checked in order to rule out any illness.
AID procedure
First step (ovulation stimulation and monitoring). To stimulate the ovulation a follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) is used. The cycle is controlled by ultrasound in order to check the follicular development in the ovaries. When the number and size of the follicles is sufficient (with this technique only one has to be developed) its maturity is triggered by use of another hormone called LH ( a luteinizing hormone).
Second step (semen sample collection). The sperm is collected after carrying out a complete study of the donor’s health in order to be sure of the good quality of the sperm and to rule out any illness. The potential donors are placed under a series of tests and analyses before being accepted: sperm, blood, urine, general health, sexual transmitted diseases and a psychological examination. All the donors have to be over 18 and sign a consent form agreeing for their sperm to be used in this technique as well as accepting the anonymity therein. The donor sperm is frozen before being used.
Third step (insemination). The artificial insemination with donor sperm is carried out in exactly the same way as the artificial insemination with the partner’s sperm but with a cryopreserved semen sample from a semen bank. The sperm is placed into a small cannula which is then introduced into the uterus on the precise day when ovulation is expected. It is a simple process, generally painless and very similar to any other routine procedure in a gynaecological clinic.
This technique recommended in....
Before the arrival in 1992 of the intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), which allows for the injection of a single sperm into each oocyte, this technique was used in cases of severe sperm pathologies. However, these days the regulations have been restricted where there are cases of hereditary illness, testicular failure (testicles cannot produce sperm) or women who have no male partner.