Donor insemination
Donor insemination has been practiced as a medical treatment in the U.K. and U.S. for over a hundred years. There is also evidence of it being common practice in many cultures throughout the ages.
Staff at our clinic were involved in setting up the first donor insemination (D.I.) unit at the Well Woman Centre in 1979 and have been providing the service at the Morehampton Clinic for over sixteen years.
All donor sperm is frozen and donors, having been thoroughly screened, are matched by physical characteristics to the couple, particularly the husband.
The donor sperm we use is brought in from Denmark. There are no adequate facilities available in this country for screening donors.
In Denmark procedures for screening are extremely rigorous and all samples are quarantined for a minimum of six months. After that time, donors have all blood tests repeated before the samples are released for use.
We have chosen to use clinics in Denmark as physical characteristics are easy to match and we are guaranteed reliability.
Donors are generally students, though this is not a pre-requisite. They are not paid for their samples, just given small sums of money for their time.
They do, however, have to be committed as they undergo many tests and counselling sessions. They are guaranteed anonimity, so tracing of donor by recipients or vice versa would be impossible.
The donor sperm is frozen in straws and stored in liquid nitrogen until needed and then defrosted just before use. The treatment, though less expensive than many more technological treatments, is costly as the extensive screening of donors, transport and storage involves obvious costs.
We have two different treatments using frozen sperm:
D.I. (Donor Insemination)
This is the direct insemination of the defrosted frozen sperm sample to the cervix (neck of the womb). It is a five minute painless procedure, and is the procedure commonly used since the 1960’s. Success rate is approx. 8% per cycle, though this can vary considerably.
Advantages: Low tech. painless procedure. Relatively inexpensive.
Disadvantages: Less successful than I.U.I.D.
I.U.I.D.(Intrauterine insemination using donor sperm)
This procedure involves the sperm sample being inseminated directly into the womb (uterus). Success rate is approx. 11% - 12% per cycle.
Advantages: Because the sperm is placed directly into the womb, which is an ideal atmosphere for the sample to survive in, the sperm should survive for longer.
Painless procedure.
Comparatively better success rate.
Disadvantages: More expensive than D.I.
Donor insemination is also suitable for couples who have a male factor fertility problem or are known to have a genetically inherited disorder, carried by the man or the couple, which they do not wish to pass on to their children.
Counselling and medical examination are pre-requisites, these can be arranged by phoning the clinic.
