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Management considerations for clinically relevant findings on expanded carrier screening in a sperm donor applicant
Lauren Isley1, Pamela Callum1, Jennifer Luque1
1CooperSurgical, Inc., Trumbull, Connecticut.
Objective:
To describe the clinical experience of managing expanded carrier screening (ECS) results in sperm donor applicants at a sperm bank in the United States, including considerations around suitability determination and appropriate education of prospective donors and recipients.
Design:
A retrospective review of donor genetic screening records from July 2017 to December 2021.
Setting:
A U.S.-based sperm bank.
Patients:
Donor applicants at a sperm bank.
Intervention:
Not applicable.
Main Outcome Measures:
To examine the rate of potentially significant health risks on the basis of ECS results to inform donor management and donor/recipient counseling considerations.
Results:
Nearly 2% of donor applicants were identified as having potentially significant health risks on the basis of their ECS results, and most individuals had no clinical manifestations related to these findings.
Conclusion:
There are unique challenges related to ECS in third-party reproduction for gamete providers, recipients, and their healthcare providers. A collaborative, multidisciplinary approach is necessary to help mitigate risks to donor offspring and maximize patient experience. Informed consent and access to a trained genetics professional are paramount when facilitating ECS on donor applicants and disseminating results to recipients.
