Factors affecting pregnancy rates in a donor insemination program using frozen semen

Area of Science:

• Reproductive Medicine
• Infertility Treatment
• Semen Cryopreservation

Background:

• Donor insemination is a crucial option for couples facing infertility.
• Understanding factors influencing conception rates is vital for optimizing treatment outcomes.
• The use of both fresh and frozen donor semen is common practice.

Purpose of the Study:

• To report conception and fecundability rates in women undergoing donor insemination with fresh or frozen semen.
• To analyze the impact of various factors on fertility rates.
• To compare the efficacy of fresh versus frozen donor semen.

Main Methods:

• Life-table analysis of 1000 cycles.
• Study included 226 women receiving donor semen therapy.
• Evaluation of factors such as azoospermia, female infertility, ovulatory dysfunction, and endometriosis.

Main Results:

• Overall conception rate was 45.6% with a monthly fecundability of 0.102.
• Optimal pregnancy rates were observed in couples with azoospermia (0.17) and no female infertility factors (0.2).
• Patients with ovulatory dysfunction treated with clomiphene achieved optimal rates (0.17 per cycle); endometriosis significantly reduced fecundability (0.04 per cycle).
• No significant difference in pregnancy rates per cycle between fresh (0.12) and frozen (0.09) semen was found.

Conclusions:

• Donor insemination therapy yields acceptable pregnancy rates, even with frozen semen.
• Specific infertility factors, such as azoospermia and ovulatory dysfunction, respond well to treatment.
• Endometriosis presents a significant challenge to conception rates in donor insemination.