Screening to Reduce Transmission of Sexually Transmitted Diseases in Semen Used for Artificial Insemination

The practice of artificial insemination by donor semen is increasing in the United States. Many sexually transmitted organisms are found in semen, but screening procedures for the detection of these agents in donor semen have not been standardized. Sexually transmitted organisms have been transmitted during artificial insemination by donor, and such transmission can cause local, disseminated, or fatal disease in the recipient woman and may harm the fetus or newborn. Therefore, screening of both the donor and the donated semen is necessary to avoid infectious complications. Because semen samples cannot be evaluated completely on the day of donation, the use of fresh semen for artificial insemination should be discouraged. Until accurate, rapid diagnostic tests are available, only frozen semen that has been appropriately screened should be used. (N Engl J Med 1986; 314:1354–9.) IN 1890, artificial insemination was first successfully accomplished in the United States. 1 Since then, about 500,000 children in this country have been born to women fertilized by this method, and the rate of use of the procedure has risen steadily. 2 , 3 Six to seven inseminations are usually required for successful conception. About 30,000 to 60,000 artificial inseminations are performed each year in the United States, and 6000 to 10,000 live births result. 4 , 5 The techniques for artificial insemination have been well defined, and the procedure has gained wide acceptance among physicians and infertile couples. One problem that has not been completely resolved . . .