Sperm donation and its application in China: a 7-year multicenter retrospective study

Abstract

Sperm donation in China is different from that in other countries due to cultural, social and political factors. This research presents the current status of sperm donation in Mainland China and highlights some problems. Between January 2003 and December 2009, 19 471 sperm donors were screened totally and 6467 donors (33.2%) were recruited. The primary reasons for non-recruitment were either inadequate semen parameters (55.0%) or positive results for sexually transmitted diseases (7.9%). There were 327 (1.7%) qualified donors who withdrew from the program because of frustration related to failed semen parameters, participation merely for free medical tests or job transfer. A questionnaire investigating donor intention, as well as other concerns associated with sperm donation, was distributed to 516 potential donors. All potential donors indicated their primary motivation as altruism, while 90.9% mentioned monetary reward as a second motivating factor. Approximately 93.4% of donors expressed some apprehension about the risk of consanguineous mating and the protection of their identity. Over the past 7 years, 488 389 vials of donors' semen have been cryopreserved. In 36 438 artificial insemination with donor sperm (AID) cycles, the clinical pregnancy rate was 23.9% and the live birth rate was 16.6%. In 7148 in vitro fertilization cycles, the clinical pregnancy rate was 45.8% and the live birth rate was 35.2%. Human sperm banks have been strictly monitored to ensure that each sperm donor can only impregnate five women nationwide. There is still a large gap between the supply and demand for sperm donation which may be solved by updated guidelines.

What do Male Students at the College of Medicine of the University of Malawi Say About Semen Donation?

“…This is in agreement with the findings of Lui et al who reported that about 69% of their respondents had expected financial reward (8). Ping et al also reported that monetary reward was a motivating factor for semen donors in China (9). Studies in the UK and other countries have clearly indicated that payment for sperm donation is an important consideration, particularly among students, this seem to be the pattern in this study (10).…”

Effect of pre-freezing conditions on the progressive motility recovery rate of human frozen spermatozoa

“…Based on our statistical study of a large sample size, however, the correlation between the three parameters and the progressive motility recovery rate existed. As these three factors are major parameters in evaluating semen quality during sperm donation (World Health Organization, ; Hu et al ., ; Ping et al ., ), our results indicate that the quality evaluation of semen during donation is an effective process to assure good progressive motility recovery rate in sperm bank processing.…”

Short-term safety evaluation of the offspring conceived by 7272 artificial insemination cycles with donor spermatozoon

“…Artificial insemination with donor spermatozoon (AID) is an assisted reproductive technology that introduces donor semen into a female's uterus or cervix for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilisation other than sexual intercourse (Qiao, ). As AID technology has been gradually accepted, there is an increasing number of offspring conceived by AID technology, and therefore, more and more attention has been paid to the health status of the offspring (Liang et al ., ; Ping et al ., ). In this study, we retrospectively analysed the offspring conceived by AID technology and the offspring delivered by women who conceived naturally in the same period to provide evidence for safety evaluation of the AID technology.…”