SPERM WASHING - HOW SUCCESSFUL IS IT?

[UK_SL]

My girlfriend and I are planning on starting a family some time in the future and we have been reading up on sperm washing, because I am positive and she is negative is there any risk of passing on the virus to her. Just wandering if anyone on here has ever done it and how successful it is. Does anyone know what the cost of it is in the UK too, I know there is only one clinic in London that I can find who do it.

[newt]

On the NHS it's free, in principle. But it is not a walk-in-and-get procedure. You have to be assessed because it involves IVF. The woman must be amenable to this procedure and the chance of successful conception good. The man must have enough sperm to give a reasonable chance of making a baby. Home circumstances may also be considered. Plus you may have to persuade your Primary Care Trust to pay. Your consultant can refer you.

In terms of safety, there have been no cases of HIV transmission to women from sperm washing as far as I know.

See: Conception: when the man is HIV-positive and the woman HIV-negative

http://www.i-base.info/guides/pregnancy/man.html

- matt

[Inchlingblue]

Andrew contracted HIV when he was a child: he is a haemophiliac who was injected with contaminated blood. In this revealing documentary Andrew and Michelle speak openly about the ways in which HIV is affecting their chances of having a child and the challenges facing them as they try to become parents.

LINK TO LABOUR OF LOVE (22-Min. Documentary):

http://rockhopper.tv/aids2031/programmes.aspx?ProgrammeID=211

[xman]

Many couples are trying to conceive naturally but only if the positive partner is on antiretroviral therapy and undetectable. The chances for the negative partner becoming infected are quite low. Only you and your partner can decide if this option is comfortable and a talk with your HIV specialist would be useful.

There's one couple here in the forum which succeeded that way and no transmission occurred even after multiple attempts to conceive.

[Inchlingblue]

There's one couple here in the forum which succeeded that way and no transmission occurred even after multiple attempts to conceive.

The link below has all the threads with info about that couple.

LINK:

http://forums.poz.com/index.php?topic=30170.msg369660#msg369660

[skeebo1969]

  IMO I would say it is an option with potential risks.   (referring to the natural conception method that is)  I thought sperm washing was supposed to take away any risk of infection.

[bocker3]

On the NHS it's free, in principle. But it is not a walk-in-and-get procedure. You have to be assessed because it involves IVF. The woman must be amenable to this procedure and the chance of successful conception good. The man must have enough sperm to give a reasonable chance of making a baby. Home circumstances may also be considered. Plus you may have to persuade your Primary Care Trust to pay. Your consultant can refer you.

In terms of safety, there have been no cases of HIV transmission to women from sperm washing as far as I know.

See: Conception: when the man is HIV-positive and the woman HIV-negative

http://www.i-base.info/guides/pregnancy/man.html

- matt

Is there a reason that they go right to IVF?  It would seem that you could first try intra-uterine insemination with the washed sample. 
I worked in a couple of Andrology labs and we washed semen samples for both IUI and IVF.  IUI is much, much cheaper and much less invasive, as there is no need to take an egg out of the woman.  IUI simply gets the washed sperm into the uterus without intercourse.  The sample has to be washed because you don't want to inject seminal fluid into the uterus -- there are components of the fluid that would cause contractions.

BTW -- unless there is a need for something more complex (although, I can't imagine what that could be), sperm washing is a fairly simple process .

Mike

[Inchlingblue]

Is there a reason that they go right to IVF?  It would seem that you could first try intra-uterine insemination with the washed sample. 
 

I don't think they go right to IVF, at least not with the couple profiled in the film linked above.

[ad2san]

I have a couple of friends in France who experimented this 10 years ago ... they now have 2 beautiful daughters (not twins, they have 2 years difference), both healthy and they both look very much like their father 

[newt]

On IVF: no not necessarily right away, it may not be needed, working this all out (the options for insemmination) is part of the assessment process. Apologies for inaccuracy. - matt

[xman]

 IMO I would say it is an option with potential risks.   (referring to the natural conception method that is)  I thought sperm washing was supposed to take away any risk of infection.

No even sperm washing carries a risk of transmission. You need to sign a paper to take the responsibility for the risks involved. It's not a 100% safe procedure. No known transmission occured that way yet but this applies also to natural conception on HAART. There are no cases of infection as I know. Dr. Gallant confirmed that also in one of his comments.

Only IVF is a safe method because conception is established outside the human body with no contacts of potential infected fluids.

[bocker3]

No even sperm washing carries a risk of transmission. You need to sign a paper to take the responsibility for the risks involved. It's not a 100% safe procedure. No known transmission occured that way yet but this applies also to natural conception on HAART. There are no cases of infection as I know. Dr. Gallant confirmed that also in one of his comments.

Only IVF is a safe method because conception is established outside the human body with no contacts of potential infected fluids.

Actually, sperm washing would never transmit the virus, because it is simply a procedure to remove seminal fluids and (most -- a key word) WBCs from the sperm cells in a male ejaculate.  The "washed" sperm cells are resuspended in some media.  The risk would be how these sperm are used for possible conception.  Basically, there are 2 choices, IUI or IVF (there are others, but they are far more extreme, like "injecting" a single sperm into an egg).  IUI is where the "washed" sperm are injected into the uterus and IVF is where the sperm and egg (or eggs) are mixed together in a petri dish and conception would take place there.  The embryo (or embryos) would be implanted into the uterus.

So, yes -- IVF removes risk of transmission.  IUI retains a theoretical risk of transmission.  However, even IUI should entail an even lower risk than "natural" conception.  Again, someone with a surpressed viral load probably has very little chance of passing on the virus with IUI -- but no one will say there is none.

Mike