Before an ovodonation, the male partner is usually asked to undergo a karyotype blood test.
The karyotype test examines the size, shape and number of chromosomes. Chromosomes are the parts of cells that contain genes. Genes are parts of DNA that are inherited from the mother and father.
People normally have 46 chromosomes, divided into 23 pairs, in each cell. One chromosome of each pair comes from the mother, and the other chromosome comes from the father.
At the seminal level, the sperm DNA fragmentation test can be ordered. Fragmentation is defined as the presence of breaks in the DNA (the molecule that contains all the genetic information in the sperm and in all our cells). The DNA molecule is composed of two strands forming a double helix. These breaks can occur in one of the strands, which is called single fragmentation, or in both, which is called double fragmentation.
Single fragmentation is usually associated with increased time to achieve pregnancy naturally, unsuccessful IVF cycles and a lower conception rate. On the other hand, double fragmentation is related to repeated miscarriages or low embryo quality in the cycles, since after fertilization, the oocyte cannot "solve" this anomaly presented by the spermatozoa, thus having negative effects both on embryo development and on the course of a pregnancy.
Thanks to the analysis performed by this test, either of the two types of fragmentation mentioned above can be revealed. If sperm fragmentation is altered in the ejaculate, depending on the predominant type, the proposed treatment will be different.
