Category Archives: Genetic Testing

Should Women Using Sperm Donors Have Some Genetic Testing, Too?

With today’s incredible advances in genetic testing, you’re right to expect your sperm donor to be as free as possible of conditions that could seriously affect the health of your baby. But what about you?

I highly recommend that if you’re planning to become pregnant, you should make an appointment with your doctor to have a complete medical evaluation before conception, including genetic tests. Genes contain the information your body’s cells—and your baby’s—need to function.

The genetic makeup your baby is born with can affect your baby’s health in two major ways:

  • Single gene disorders are caused by a problem in one gene and run in families. Examples are cystic fibrosis and sickle cell anemia.
  • Chromosomes are the structures where genes are located. Chromosome disorders occur when all or part of a chromosome is missing or extra, or if the structure of one or more chromosomes is not normal. Most chromosome disorders that involve whole chromosomes do not run in families.

Depending on your genetic risk factors, your doctor might suggest you meet with a genetic professional for counseling. Reasons to consider seeking genetic counseling include:

  • A woman who is pregnant or plans to become pregnant at 35 years or older.
  • A family history of a known or suspected genetic condition, birth defect, or chromosomal abnormality. These include Fragile X Syndrome, the leading cause of mental retardation, spinal muscular atrophy, an often fatal neurological disease and cystic fibrosis.
  • Two or more pregnancy losses.
  • Exposure to a drug or other substance known or suspected of interfering with fetal development.
  • Having a medical condition known or suspected to affect fetal development.
  • Increased risk of getting or passing on a genetic disorder because of one’s ethnic background. Examples include sickle cell anemia, which has the highest rate of occurrence in African Americans and, and secondly, in Hispanics. Also, people of Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry are at higher risk for diseases such as Tay-Sachs, a rare inherited disorder that affects nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord.

Taking good care of yourself prior to getting pregnant is the best gift you can give, both to you and your baby. And with today’s advances, genetic testing, as part of a good general medical exam, is the best insurance you can have that the genes you’re passing along are good ones.

Sherron Mills
Sherron is the founder and president of Pacific Reproductive Services

With Donor Genetic Testing, More Is Better

The number of tests done varies among sperm banks, sometimes significantly.

In recent years, lesbian couples and single women seeking to have children through artificial insemination can be more confident that FDA-regulated U.S. sperm banks are screening and testing their donors for serious inheritable conditions.

But despite the growing prevalence of genetic testing, be aware that the number and type of tests conducted on prospective sperm donors varies among sperm banks. Additionally, federal regulators and state licensing authorities (with the exception of the New York State Department of Health) don’t currently require donor genetic testing. They do, however, conduct rigorous and regular on-site reviews of all U.S. sperm banks and mandate testing for communicable diseases such as HIV, hepatitis, syphilis, chlamydia and gonorrhea, and for sperm quality.

What genetic testing does the sperm bank perform on donor applicants?

Check with the sperm bank you’re considering about its genetic testing protocol for donor applicants. The recommendations developed by the American Society for Reproductive Medicine and the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists can be considered today’s “best practices” in this field. For the testing we perform at PRS, which incorporate and go beyond the basic best practices standard, please visit our donor testing page.

Keep in mind there’s no testing protocol that could possibly cover the limitless number of genetic disorders human beings can carry. These range along a broad spectrum from harmless to minor to serious to life-threatening. Plus, not all genetic diseases are inherited: Some genetic mutations can occur spontaneously during embryonic development, and others through some type of environmental exposure that can manifest at any time of life. The risk of a birth defect resulting from donor insemination, according to leading medical research institutions, is the same as the risk from conceiving naturally: in the range of 2% to 4%.

Genetic Disease Prevention: A Breakthrough in Child Health

Genetic testing is one of the most important new frontiers in medicine. It’s also one of the biggest advances in the history of the sperm banking field. The number of devastating diseases identified from routine screening tests would’ve seemed unlikely even a decade ago.

Here are important factors to consider when choosing a sperm donor: his general health, physical characteristics, ethnicity, education, and interests. With the growing availability of genetic testing, the quality and breadth of a sperm bank’s donor testing program is vital information to add into your decision-making process.

Sherron Mills
Sherron is founder and president of Pacific Reproductive Services