When is it used?
Single women who wish to have a family but do not have a male partner, same sex female couples, or a couple who has male factor infertility (no sperm, abnormal sperm morphology or sperm that carries a genetic disease) often choose to use donor sperm to achieve a pregnancy.
What to Expect:
Sperm must first be purchased from an approved Health Canada distributor. This sperm has undergone extensive testing, has been frozen and quarantined and then retested to ensure that it does not carry any infectious diseases.
A list of suppliers can be found in our resource section. Each supplier has a catalog on their website which provides information on the sperm donor such as the donors race, ethnic origin, hair colour, eye colour and whether the donor is open ID. An open ID donor is one who is willing to release identity information when requested by donor offspring.
On the day of the procedure, the frozen donor sperm will be thawed and washed.
Intrauterine insemination (IUI) will be used to place the donor sperm in the uterine cavity. Timing of the IUI procedure is important. The sperm is placed into the uterus one to two days after ovulation occurs. Monitoring for ovulation is important. This can occur by using an in-home urine ovulation prediction kit. This kit detects when your body produces a surge, releasing luteinizing hormone known as LH. IUI with donor sperm is done 24-36 hours after the surge. It is important to call the nurses line when you detect your surge so that the IUI can be scheduled in the appropriate time frame
Complications:
IUI has very few complications
• Infection – There is a slight risk of developing an infection as the result of placing the catheter into the uterus.
• Bleeding – Placing the catheter into the uterus can cause vaginal bleeding. Bleeding should not impact the chance of a pregnancy.
Success rates:
The highest success rates occur in women who have no known fertility issues and are under the age of 35. Lower success rates are reported for women who have fertility related issues (endometriosis, problems with ovulation, adhesions, etc.) or are over the age of 35.
Studies suggest that success rates can vary from 60%to 80%, but this is after several cycles of donor insemination.
