Human Sperm Bank

Hospitals that establish sperm banks are equipped with semen refrigeration technology.

When liquid nitrogen is used to store semen at -196℃, the sperm can be stored well for a long time and can be dissolved for artificial insemination when needed. Sperm bank is used in the following cases:

The male infertility patients who have no medical treatment, their spouses can carry out artificial insemination with frozen semen from voluntary sperm donors; those who must apply certain medicines, radiation or surgical treatments due to illnesses that have a sterilizing effect or those whose fertility is affected due to certain occupations (e.g., exposure to radioactive substances) can have their semen stored for spare parts in advance; those who suffer from oligozoospermia can have semen collected several times in advance, concentrated, and then accumulated into a large number of sperm. The semen can be collected several times in advance for those with oligospermia, and after concentration, the semen can be stored in cold storage.

Establishing a sperm bank also has a layer of significance, which is conducive to the sperm donor and recipient isolation and double-blind, in line with the requirements of confidentiality, but also easy to manage. Sperm bank technology is not complicated, the semen will be added to an equal amount of media solution to protect the sperm, pH corrected to 7.2-7.4 together in a glass bottle, stored in -196 ℃ liquid nitrogen tank. When needed around the time of female ovulation, take some frozen semen from the sperm bank and dissolve it to be used for artificial insemination.

A place where human and animal sperm are stored by freezing.

The spermatozoa are frozen and stored in liquid nitrogen tanks consisting of egg yolks, glycerin, sodium citrate, etc., so that they hibernate at a low temperature of -196 degrees Celsius, and the spermatozoa can regain their vitality once they are rewarmed.

The United States, the United Kingdom, France, and India established human sperm banks in succession to carry out eugenic research in the 1960s. China established a human sperm bank at Hunan Medical University in November 1981, and then established human sperm banks of varying sizes in schools and hospitals in some major cities such as Qingdao, Beijing, Shenyang, Shanghai, etc. On January 16, 1983, China's first artificially inseminated baby was born in Changsha. Frozen sperm can be stored for 20 years, which can make a large number of men assured of ligation surgery; secondly, it is conducive to eugenics, at present, the world has discovered a variety of hereditary diseases of about 4,000 kinds, the selection of healthy sperm can be made to impregnate the wife of a man suffering from a hereditary disease, to put an end to the father's harmful inheritance; thirdly, it is to solve the problem of male infertility to provide an effective method; fourthly, it is to provide scientific basis for the eugenics; fifthly, it is to help solve the problem of rare and endangered animals, and to provide the best solution to the problem. Favorable solution to the racial reproduction of rare and endangered animals.

The process of sperm donation

1. Once accepted as a sperm donor, the donor will go to the sperm bank every 1-2 weeks to provide semen and abstain from sex for 5-7 days before providing semen according to the requirements. The process of semen collection is to retain semen by masturbation in the sperm collection room itself. The sperm donor must be left alone in the room and must not be accompanied by any other person.

2. Donate sperm several times according to the rules of the sperm bank until the required semen sample size is reached.

3. Six months after the cessation of sperm donation, the sperm donor will visit the sperm bank to have the relevant blood and other laboratory tests reviewed, and to provide timely updates on the information about the donor's health and genetic factors, etc.

4. The sperm bank will give the sperm donor who has completed the above procedures an appropriate amount of money for lost wages and a transportation allowance. According to the regulations, we will give the sperm donor RMB 100 yuan for each qualified sperm donation; we will give another appropriate subsidy (RMB 100 yuan × number of qualified sperm donations) to the sperm donor who comes for blood sampling and re-checking of HIV antibody after 6 months of cessation of sperm donation.

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Why do we need to draw blood for review after six months?

The Ministry of Health stipulates that after six months of frozen semen, the donor's blood should be tested again for HIV antibodies, and the test should be negative before the frozen semen can be used. The reason for this is that after HIV infection, there is a period of time when you are already infected, but the antigen cannot be detected, which is called the window period. In the process of infection, the first thing that appears is viral RNA, which can be detected by PCR, and then IgM antibody, which can be detected by double antigen sandwich method, and then IgG antibody, which can be detected by indirect method and double antigen sandwich method, and now we provide gold standard test strips which are double antigen sandwich method, which can be detected after 10-15 days of infection at the minimum. Most samples have a window period of 6-8 weeks, and most people can be detected after 3 months. If high-risk behaviors remain undetectable after 3 months, there is basically no possibility of infection. Many sperm banks at home and abroad require a blood test for HIV antibodies 6 months after the sperm supply.

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Donor insemination and HIV transmission

Strict screening standards are enforced, all specimens are stored for a sufficient period of time (180-day quarantine), and the sperm donor has to repeat the test for HIV-Ab. We have done a lot of work on this. After some sperm donors reached the quarantine period, we took the initiative to contact and remind them to come back to our hospital for blood tests, and some of them came back from Hunan and Shanghai for repeat tests. So far, we have not found HIV-Ab positive in the population of sperm donors.

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What is a semen preserver?

Due to certain medical requirements or for the purpose of reproductive insurance, a semen depositor freezes semen in a sperm bank and uses the husband's frozen semen for artificial insemination or other assisted reproductive technology services when needed.

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Basic conditions of semen depositor

1. Reasonable medical requirements for receiving assisted reproductive technology, such as those who have difficulty in sperm retrieval and those with oligo- and oligospermia.

2. For the purpose of preventing fertility risks: (1) those who need to preserve sperm for future fertility; (2) men who request semen preservation before they receive teratogenic doses of radiation, medicines, toxic substances, or sterilization surgeries, as well as those who need to preserve sperm for future fertility if they have been separated for a long period of time.

3. The applicant understands the possible effects of sperm freezing, preservation and recovery and signs an informed consent form.

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How much does a person who preserves his/her own semen have to pay?

1. Pre-preservation examination fee: 3,300 RMB/person

2. Preservation fee: 1,200 RMB/month/person

3. Sperm preferential treatment fee: 940 RMB/person

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Sperm donor screening process

Volunteers are subjected to the following evaluations and screenings prior to becoming an official sperm donor, and the results must meet the standards set by the National Ministry of Health. The results must meet the standards set by the Ministry of Health.

1. Initial evaluation:

Sperm donors must be between the ages of 22-45, be able to provide a true history of their own and their family members' general medical and genetic history, answer any other relevant questions posed by the physician, and provide a semen specimen for examination upon request. Sperm bank personnel will interview the sperm donor. The sperm donor should not belong to the high-risk group of AIDS, have no history of sexually transmitted diseases, have no systemic or serious organic diseases, have no long-term exposure to radiation and toxic substances, and have no drug addiction, alcoholism, homosexuality and other behaviors.

2. Semen analysis:

Each semen specimen must be analyzed by the World Health Organization standardized methods, including sperm density, motility, morphology and other indicators, these specimens should be analyzed and compared before and after freezing, and the sperm motility after thawing should be more than 40%.

3. Infectious disease testing:

All sperm donors should be tested for serum HIV antibodies, hepatitis B two-to-half, hepatitis C antibodies, syphilis, cytomegalovirus antibodies, and so on. Gonorrhea, mycoplasma, and chlamydia tests and bacterial cultures are performed on semen.

4. Medical and Genetic Evaluation:

Each sperm donor will undergo a physical examination, blood type as well as RH test, and also blood cell chromosome examination. Their medical and genetic history will be evaluated by a geneticist. The Human Sperm Bank of Guangdong Specialized Hospital for Family Planning also adds screening for thalassemia and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency for sperm donors according to the incidence of genetic diseases in Guangdong Province. Psychological evaluations of sperm donors are also conducted when necessary.

5. Semen freeze-thaw resuscitation examination:

After becoming a sperm donor, each semen specimen is evaluated before and after freezing, and all specimens that do not meet the minimum standards for sperm donation are discarded. All specimens are stored for a sufficient period of time (180 days quarantine) and the donor is repeatedly tested for infectious diseases.

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How to manage sperm donors

1. An important way to prevent the spread of infection is to carefully screen donors and monitor their health status dynamically.

2. The National Ministry of Health stipulates that a sperm donor can only supply sperm to one sperm bank.

3. Sperm donors can receive appropriate compensation for lost work and transportation costs, but must complete the entire procedure, including a blood test after six months, to receive full compensation.

4. The Ministry of Health of the country stipulates that the number of successful pregnancies of a woman from one sperm donor's semen should not be more than five, so as to avoid homozygous pregnancies.

5. An informed consent form must be signed before sperm donation, stating that there are no sexually transmitted diseases and genetic diseases, and that the donor is aware of the sperm donation procedure and related risk factors.

6. The Sperm Bank will keep the results of each donor screening and evaluation for a long time, and record the results of each cycle of semen use in each assisted reproduction center.

7. Proper storage of donor materials. Confidentiality of details of medical records of sperm donation will be maintained.