Michelle Emblenton, a biochemist at inviTRA, tells us about the step-by-step of artificial insemination with donor sperm:
Well, artificial insemination, whether we use partner sperm or donor sperm, is basically the same process, but we're going to focus on the use of donor sperm here.
When we use partner sperm for an artificial insemination process, it can be donated fresh, but donor sperm will have been frozen for at least 6 months previous to the insemination process. This is to allow sufficient time for the necessary testing to make sure there are no infections and any other genetic disease test that may be required.The first step is a controlled ovarian stimulation, in which the woman will take medication in order to stimulate the growth of the eggs within her ovaries. This is a mild form of ovarian stimulation, intended to develop maybe one two eggs. At the correct time, the ovulation of the eggs is then induced again with hormonal treatment.
Then we have the seamen thoring. The semen sample needs to be thored and then it will be processed, it will be checked with a seen analysis to do a total sperm count to make sure the sperm have survived. It will then be capacitated ready for use in the insemination.
The artificial insemination, or intrauterine insemination, is the process by which the sperm sample is introduced into the uterus via an insemination cannula. This is a simple procedure and doesn't require any anesthesia.
This will then be followed by the two week wait, the beta weight, which needs to be respected before taking the pregnancy test to see if the treatment was successful.
In the United States it is possible to choose your sperm donor if you wish. However, anonymously donated sperm is also available.
In many other countries, however, you cannot choose your sperm donor. The donation of gametes is a totally anonymous and altruistic process. In this case, it is the clinic themselves that will choose who is your sperm donor.
The clinic will choose the most suitable donor based on things such as phenotype (that their characteristics are similar, perhaps with eye color, hair color, height...). Also they will make sure that immunologically they are matching, such as blood types. And, if there are any genetic diseases that run in your family, they may want to make sure there is a genetic compatibility as well in a genetic matching process.
The woman or the couple undergoing the treatment will only receive general information about the donor (for example, their height, their eye color...), but will not receive any identifying information to make sure that the process remains anonymous. In order to become a sperm donor, a man does need to be of usually between 18 and 35 years old, possess very high quality semen, have a karyotype study done to make sure that there are no chromosomal abnormalities and also be free of any infectious diseases or genetic diseases. They will also have that undergo general health testing and psychological testing and the criteria for becoming a sperm donor is actually very strict and only one out of every 10 men are usually accepted as a sperm donor. As a result, the donor sperm is usually of very good quality.
