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Who is affected by artificial insemination with donor (IAD)?
The heterosexual couples, couples of women and single women, of childbearing age and carriers of a parental project, can turn to artificial insemination with a donor. Subject to new decrees concerning the age limit for access to this method, the woman seems to have to be under 40 years old, but insemination can be scheduled up to 42 years under certain conditions. In the case of a couple, both members must be living, of childbearing age and consent prior to embryo transfer or insemination. A detailed medical and psychological diagnosis, carried out within a CECOS, will determine the possibility of having recourse to this medically assisted procreation (MAP) procedure.
What is the IAD?
It is about depositing sperm from a donor in the female genital tract, at the entrance to the cervix (intra-cervical), in the uterus (intrauterine) or by in vitro fertilization with the sperm of the donor (IVF or ICSI). This insemination is carried out using frozen sperm straws, which respect the conditions ofanonymity of the donation, amended with the bioethics law adopted by the National Assembly on June 29, 2021, and health safety rules.
The stages of artificial insemination with donor (IAD)
After a preliminary diagnosis at CECOS and the opening of the file, the waiting period, which usually lasts from 18 months to two and a half years *, can begin. Insemination will be carried out before or during ovulation and can be renewed several times if necessary. According to the statistical results of all the CECOS, after 12 cycles of insemination (6 intra-cervical and 6 intrauterine inseminations), in other words, if a person performs inseminations for 12 months, he has 70% chance, or 2 out of 3, to have a child **. Otherwise, in vitro fertilization will be recommended.
* figures from 2017
Who can donate his sperm?
Men between 18 and 44 years included can donate sperm. Since 2016, no need to already be a father. The donation is made after strict examinations. The conditions of donor anonymity have been modified with the promulgation of the law on bioethics adopted by the National Assembly on June 29, 2021. At least thirteen months after this promulgation, children born from a donation may apply to come of age to know non-identifying information such as the donor’s age, his physical characteristics and the reasons for his donation. But he can also request access to the identity of the donor. For children born from a donation before this new regime, it is possible to ask that the donor be contacted again to find out if he agrees to communicate his identity.
With this modification of the legal framework for gamete donation, donors must, from the thirteenth month following the promulgation of these changes, consent that non-identifying data but also their identity be transmitted. Without this, the donation cannot be made. However, the donation remains anonymous in the sense that the person receiving it cannot choose his donor and the donor cannot choose to whom he gives.
Note: not all sperm can withstand the effects of freezing and they are only used if they are fertile. For the realization of ART, the choice of donor will depend on morphological and blood criteria.
Who can donate their eggs?
Every healthy woman, between 18 and 38 years included, can donate eggs. The process is carried out in a university hospital center, within the center for the study and conservation of eggs and sperm (Cecos). The examinations are as strict and regulated as for sperm donation and the conditions of anonymity are the same. Egg donation, like sperm donation, is unpaid.