If you are an infertile couple, a couple or a single woman, you may need to resort to donating gametes – eggs or sperm – to achieve pregnancy as part of reproduction. medically assisted reproduction (PMA), also called “medically assisted reproduction” (AMP).

What gives? Who receives? How is a donation made? What are the criteria? Doctor Thomas Charbonnier was the guest of the podcast “(In)fertile”. He is a gynecologist and was a national AMP speaker until October 2023 the Biomedical Agency.

Listen too Why can egg and sperm donation be a solution to having a child?

Between the announcement of the Bioethics Act, in August 2021, and on June 30, 2023, almost 30,000 requests for initial consultation with PMA with sperm donation were recorded. By 2019, there were around 2,000 heterosexual couples. What do these numbers reflect?

With this increase we must distinguish two important things. On the one hand, we have a new audience that is generating unprecedented demand: female couples and single women. On the other hand, in recent years we have noticed an increase in infertility related to our lifestyle, pollution, toxic products, alcohol, etc.

Who are the donors?

There are two main types of donors: young people between 20 and 25 years old who do not have fertility problems but feel worried, and relatives of people who have had to benefit from donation. It is a principle of national solidarity: when a woman or a man comes to give, he is really doing it for others. It is a gift of self, a very great effort of solidarity.

In 2022, 764 men donated their sperm and 990 women donated their eggs. Is that enough to meet the high demand?

It’s never enough, and that’s why we do it Communication campaigns encourage giving. However, we must distinguish between the number of donors and the number of gametes. When we collect sperm from men, we collect so-called “straquins”, i.e. a supply of millions of sperm. A single donation can therefore be used for several women (up to ten children). In women, the test is more complicated and difficult. We collect between eight and ten eggs each time.

What are the criteria to become a donor?

Since the Bioethics Act 2021, the criteria have been simplified. It is no longer necessary to already have children to donate. Obtaining consent from the spouse is no longer mandatory and the number of possible attempts for donors has been increased. So you “only” have to be between 18 and 45 years old and in good health.

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