Sperm Donation

Sperm donation is an application that provides the opportunity to reach pregnancy by using donor sperm in couples with infertility problems due to male partner. Although insemination with donor sperm has been applied in the world for more than a century, the first clinical study on this subject was published in 1945. In 1980, with the emergence of the HIV virus, donor sperm began to be applied only with frozen sperms obtained from donors who were screened only and completed the 6-month quarantine process.

In our center, only donor sperm samples taken from accredited sperm banks and performed all serological tests are used.

How is the sperm donation process?

Intrauterine insemination (IUI) – vaccination or IVF (IVF) method can be used in sperm donation. In line with the suitability of the female partner and the preference of the couple, it is first decided which method will be used.

All of the donor sperm dissolved in the IUI method is released into the womb of the female partner using a special catheter.

In the IVF method, the appropriate sperm are selected from the dissolved donor sperm sample and injected into the eggs obtained by ovarian stimulation from the female partner by microinjection (ICSI) method.

Since the necessary screening tests have been performed in sperm donation, and since the male partner is not included in the application, no medical preparation procedures are applied in the male.

The preparation process of the female partner is as follows.

* Interview with the specialist physician: In this meeting, your health history story will be taken, physical examination and necessary tests will be planned.

* Interview with the Coordinator: Your transportation and accommodation organizations will be planned in this meeting. Except for medical issues, all the details of the treatment process will be discussed and your profile forms will be arranged. Sperm donor selection will also be determined at this stage.

* Psychological Counseling: Couples can get counseling about their questions about the donation process and its aftermath, and their social or psychological concerns.

* Implementation of tests: Relevant screening tests are required for the woman.

* Ultrasonographic examination: It is applied to analyze the structure of the uterus. If necessary, hysteroscopic examination may be requested.

* HSG (hysterosalpingography): It is requested for the evaluation of the tubes as well as the uterine structure. Thus, processes that can prevent embryo implantation, such as hydrosalpenx, are evaluated.

* Use of drugs for ovarian stimulation.

* Determining your control appointments (follicle tracking) to track the development of your eggs during the treatment process.

* Egg collection and embryo culture: Cracking needle will be applied on the day determined by your doctor on the day determined according to the follicle follow-up and egg collection will be applied after approximately 36 hours. In this process, the mature eggs collected are microinjected with the donor sperm selected on the same day. The next day, fertilization control is performed and then the embryo development is followed and the appropriate transfer day is planned. In this process, our center embryology laboratory provides information about the condition of your embryos on a daily basis.

* Embryo biopsy: If the genetic diagnosis procedure is planned in the embryos and the FISH method will prefer, the 3rd day biopsy is applied to the embryos that have reached sufficient developmental level and quality, and the transfer can be performed in the same cycle. If the NGS method is preferred, the embryos are frozen after the 5th day embryo biopsy procedure.

* Embryo transfer: In line with the quality of the developing embryos, how many embryos will be transferred will be determined and the selected embryos will be transferred to your uterus. The transfer process is a simple and short process (approximately 15 minutes). After a short rest after the procedure, you will be able to return to your daily life. If the FISH test was applied to the embryos for genetic diagnostic purposes, the embryo transfer is done within the same month 2 days after the test, and if the embryos are frozen after the NGS test, your embryo transfer will be performed the next month.

* Pregnancy: According to the developmental stage of the transferred embryos, the result will be determined with the pregnancy test (beta hCG) to be checked from the blood 9 or 12 days after the transfer. If positive results are obtained, gestational sac control is required with an ultrasound examination 2-3 weeks after the test.

How to choose sperm used in sperm donation?

A 20-30% loss of vitality is considered normal after the frozen sperm are dissolved. This is largely due to the mixture of newly produced and previously produced sperm in the content of the sperm sample. Therefore, the living part mainly includes newly produced sperm. Since there are millions of sperm in donor sperm samples and only one sperm is used per egg, there is almost no chance of problems in sperm donation. The important thing is that the healthiest ones among the existing sperm are selected and used with appropriate methods.

In addition to the morphological selection of sperm in our center, the host method that provides the selection of sperm with the healthiest DNA structure, that is, the most likely DNA fragmentation, is preferred.

Who can apply for sperm donation?

Couples who do not have sperm production in the male partner, that is, diagnosed with azoospermia.

Couples who have repeated unsuccessful IVF trials due to insufficiency of sperm parameters (severe oligoasthenoteratoozoospermia).

Couples who have had sperm fertilization failure.

Couples who have failed IVF trials due to severe sperm morphological defects (megalo-head, pin-head, immature sperm, centriole defects, etc.).

Couples with inherited genetic disease/carriages whose origin (gen mutation) cannot be detected in males.

Single women who do not have a male partner and want to have children.

How is the sperm donor selection made?

For the sperm to be used in the donation, a donor that resembles a male partner in terms of physical characteristics is selected from among the blood group compatible donors. All donor sperm are obtained from accredited sperm banks abroad, in line with the relevant law.

What is the success rate in sperm donation?

In our center, high quality donor sperms obtained from accredited sperm banks are used. Therefore, the egg quality of the female partner is mostly decisive in the success of sperm donation. Thanks to our stimulation protocols and sensitive follow-up processes that we apply in the preparation process of the female partner, which are constantly improved in line with our scientific developments and experiences, we achieve success rates in the range of 65-80%.

Privacy

In the application of sperm donation, the identities of the donor and the receiver are kept confidential. The applicant couples can only access the information in the donor's profile form, the donor's photo, identity and contact information are kept confidential. Likewise, donors cannot access the information of the couples whose sperm are used.

legal situation

IVF and Donation Treatment Processes in Cyprus are subject to the Law No. According to this law:

* Donor sperms to be used must be brought from accredited sperm banks.

* Donor age should be between the ages of 20-45.

* It is necessary to have laboratory and genetic tests defined in the law.

* In donor cycles, parameters such as the ages of the donor and the receiver and the quality of the embryos to be transferred are included, and the number of transfers is decided in accordance with the limitations in the IVF cycles.