In the UK, the average age of sperm donors has increased since the 2005 law eliminating the right to anonymity. Since this date, donors must leave their identity so that children born from gamete donation can possibly contact them when they come of age. Doctors and women were worried and wondered if their chances of getting pregnant were not going to be reduced by using semen from older donors.
But the latest study found no difference in the rate of babies born alive compared to the age of the sperm donor. The study, conducted by Dr Meenakshi Choudhary, of the Newcastle Fertility Center with his colleague Dr Navdeep Ghuman, looked at 40,000 treatment cycles involving a donor sperm between 1991 and 2012 from the database held by the Human Fertilization and Embryology Authority (HFEA).
No decrease in births with increasing age of men
Dr Meenakshi Choudhary is very clear: “It is the quality of men’s sperm rather than age that matters”. In insemination donor patients, for a donor under the age of 20, the birth rate was 9.7%. For a donor aged between 41 and 45, the rate rises to 12%.
Women are slightly more likely to have a baby if the sperm was donated by a middle-aged man “because he has proven fertile by having a family before,” says Dr Choudhary.
Concern over sperm donor shortage
Current UK guidelines suggest that men over 40 should not donate and thus create long waiting lists. As a result, at least a quarter of donor sperm used in UK fertility clinics comes from abroad and largely from Denmark.
The findings of the study should therefore help the UK to reconsider its judgment and reassure women: “given the need to have more sperm donors in the UK, perhaps it is time for sperm donation guidelines be reviewed in light of this study, to consider extending the age limit, ”adds Sarah Norcross, Director of the Progress Educational Trust.
Until now, doubts about aging sperm have focused on the increased risk of miscarriage or birth defects. Older age has also often been associated with long-term problems in children. But Dr Choudhary cites the lack of available data to confirm this.
Professor Allan Pacey, president of the British Fertility Society, is not of this opinion and assures that the increase in these disorders is “very small, but detectable”. He is also rather worried and cautious about an increase in the age limit for sperm donors to 45 years “because of the possible effects on the health of children”.
