Does Replacement of the Sperm Donor Increase the Chance of Achieving a Pregnancy?

Introduction: The primary recipients of donor sperm are single women, lesbian couples and heterosexual couples suffering from male infertility. Artificial insemination by sperm donor (AID) is a widely used treatment to achieve pregnancy in those cases. There is a common belief among some of the recipients that replacement of the donor will improve their chances to concieve in cases of repeated failures. This feasibility has not been assessed in the past.

Aim: To assess whether replacing a sperm donor affects the chances of achieving pregnancy via intra uterine insemination treatments.

Methods: Our study population included 312 women who conceived using artificial insemination by sperm donor. 242 women were treated with one donor only (group A), and the other 70 women were treated with one donor for a few cycles and with a different donor for additional cycles until pregnancy was achieved (group B). Statistical analysis was conducted using a multivariate model, with consideration of various factors such as age, hormonal treatment, number of inseminations, etc.

Results: The mean age of groups A and B was 37.02±3.58 and 37.26±3.38, respectively. There was a significant difference between the number of AID cycles of groups A and B (p<0.001) with mean number of 3.78 ±1.90 and 6.07 ±2.95, respectively. Statistical comparison between the number of AID cycles of group A and the number of AID cycles using the first donor in group B was similar (P=0.84). However, significant difference was found between the number of AID cycles using the first and the second donors of group B (p<0.001) with mean number of 3.84±2.48 and 2.23±1.61, respectively

Conclusion: Our results suggest that among women who failed to achieve a pregnancy within a few AID treatments, a sperm donor replacement may increase their chances to conceive. Further study is needed to provide explanation for this phenomenon.