Sperm Washing?

[WorriedWife]

Ok the ID doc told me about sperm washing today as a safe way for me to get pregnant without getting HIV from my husband. I would like to know if anyone has done this, and any information they can give me on it. Any help is greatly appreciated.

Thanks,
Stacy

[J220]

I believe the procedure does work, I read that in a recent study in Italy, some 3,000 people had the procedure done and there were zero infections. Be prepared, however, as it is expensive. I called a clinic in NY and they told me it ran about 20k. Good luck and keep us posted.

[WorriedWife]

Thanks for the info.

[dingowarrior]

tried it twice with no suceess of pregnancy...No HIV transmission either, but my wife did not get pregnant,though I've heard others have had sucess.

[J220]

Yes I read about the low incidence of pregnancy too, but I believe that is a function of the artificial insemination process itself, not the sperm washing. Will you be trying again?

[WorriedWife]

dingo,

Thanks for the info. Can you tell me how much it cost you? Also where you undetectable when you tried it?

[dingowarrior]

dingo,

Thanks for the info. Can you tell me how much it cost you? Also where you undetectable when you tried it?

yes,i've been undetectable for over a year now...my insurance paid most of it..but its about $12000.

[dingowarrior]

Yes I read about the low incidence of pregnancy too, but I believe that is a function of the artificial insemination process itself, not the sperm washing. Will you be trying again?

unfortunatley,my insurance doesnt cover another try.my wife and I are having a hard time right now.I feel so guilty and ashamed,dont really like myself at the moment.she loves me and does not blame me at all..but i still feel like crap..this disease sucks.

[WorriedWife]

ok Im taking that included the sperm washing and the In vetro? Thanks for the info. I wish my insurance would cover it but it wont.

[Esquare]

yes,i've been undetectable for over a year now...my insurance paid most of it..but its about $12000.

Damn, that is quite expensive. I'm sorry it didn't work out for you. Me and my wife have talked about it but know that neither of our insurance policies cover us for that procedure.

[vokz]

As with all assisted conception, the success rate very much depends what conception method is used. 

The Assisted Conception Unit at the hospital that treats my HIV (in the UK) has been offering a sperm washing service to HIV discordant couples since 1999.

They specify that the male partner must have a low (not necessarily undetectable) viral load and CD4 count greater than 200 .. and in a few cases they have insisted that he start antiretroviral therapy before being offered the service (to reduce viral load and improve CD4 count).

Both partners must have a full sexual health screen, including genital swabs for sexually transmitted infections and a screen for hepatitis B and C.

They do offer the service to men who are co-infected with hepatitis C (the sperm washing process also removes hepatitis C); however, they do specify that - IF he is on treatment for hepatitis C - the course of medication must be completed before he can produce sperm which is safe to use for conception.

The female partner must have an up-to-date negative HIV test.

They also insist that neither partner must have engaged in any unprotected intercourse in the preceding six months (either as a couple, or individually - including any limited attempts at natural conception).

With more than 500 cycles of treatment given, I believe their live birth success rate per treatment cycle is now somewhere in the order of 32% .. although globally that success rate it is running closer to 10% (and varies greatly according to how the washed sperm is used – with IVF being by far the most successful and ICSI and IUI coming in a poor second and third respectively).

As of 2005, around 5,000 treatment cycles had been carried out in specialised centres in Europe and America. More than 500 healthy children had been born and there were no reports of any mothers or babies being infected with HIV.

Edited to add:

The information on success rates I gave you was a little misleading. The success rate of 32% is for IVF cycles only - and is barely 15% for each cycle of IUI and ICSI.

Overall, around a third of the couples they treat can expect a live birth (but that could take multiple treatment cycles to achieve).

Sorry about that 

[WorriedWife]

vokz,

Thanks for all the information!! Do you know anyone personally that has done sperm washing?

[vokz]

Yes, I know three couples that have made use of the service.

Two of the couples had it fully funded by our National Health Service. One of those couples had a baby daughter as a result of their first cycle of treatment (with IVF); the other couple has had two failed treatment cycles with IUI and are now trying to decide whether their third cycle (they can only get three funded cycles of fertility treatment) should be with washed sperm, or donor sperm (the third cycle will be IVF).

The third couple have funded the treatment themselves (cost approx £3,500 / US$7,000 per cycle of IVF) and are preparing for their second cycle of treatment. They have also paid an extra £1,000 / US$2,000 for a backup sample of washed sperm to be frozen, in case the sperm taken on the day of actual fertilisation fails to test HIV negative after the washing process (there is a 5% chance of that happening).

I believe a privately funded IUI cycle works out at around £1,500 / US$3,000 and an ICSI cycle at closer to £4,000 / US$8,000.

Each cycle of treatment takes around three months.

Last September, AIDS (the journal of the International AIDS Network) published a report on the safety of sperm washing treatment offered at eight centres in six European countries (Belgium, France, Germany, Italy, UK and Switzerland). It states that:

• There were a total of 580 known pregnancies from 3315 cycles of treatment given to 1036 women.
• These pregnancies resulted in 410 deliveries, 463 live births (explained by 9% multiple pregnancy rate) and 47 unknown outcomes.
• Live birth rates per cycle of treatment were: 11% for IUI, 20% for IVF, 15% for ICSI, 14% for FET and 12% overall.
• All women who completed the post-treatment follow-up process tested negative for HIV (74 of the Italian patients vanished before the six month post-treatment HIV test and were therefore never given a final all-clear).

I have also discovered that there is supposedly one case in the published HIV literature (although I can't find it) of a woman suspected of becoming infected through the insemination of washed sperm .. but in this case the sperm was not correctly processed and wasn’t actually tested for HIV before use.

Finally, please note the edit I made to my last post!

[WorriedWife]

Thanks again for the information. Also thanks for the edited note on your last post!!

[rolf1]

i stay in thailand and i am positiv. my wife isn't and we discussed and checked the possibility of spermwashing. here it is quite easy. there are no strict regulations for cd 4 and vl. my vl was 43.000 and cd 4 220 and it would have cost us around 700 $. thailand in general is quite liberal and far in puncto hiv. also the prices for medications are relatively cheap. you might have heard about the problems they have with the big pharma companies about copying their medications without licenses and give the meds chaep to their infected people.

[Tim Horn]

Stacy:

You might want to contact the Bedford Research Foundation's Special Program of Assisted Reproduction, located in Massachusetts. They work closely with 26 fertility clinics throughout the U.S. by offering sperm washing for assisted reproduction.

The program is headed by Dr. Ann Kiesling, one of the pioneers in this field.

Tim Horn

[WorriedWife]

Tim thanks so much for the link I will look into it!!! I have talked to a doctor at the columbia university in NY (there is no doc it GA that will do the procedure  ) And from what I can tell it will cost about 13000 to do it not including travel.

Stacy