A COMPARATIVE-STUDY USING PREPARED AND UNPREPARED FROZEN-SEMEN FOR DONOR INSEMINATION

The aim of this study was to compare the efficacy of pericervical inse mination with unprepared semen With that of intrauterine insemination with prepared donor semen in a prospective, randomized, crossover clin ical trial. Fifty-four subsequent patients who qualified for therapeut ic donor insemination were randomized to receive alternately either an intrauterine insemination with thawed frozen donor semen, prepared by double wash and swim-up, or pericervical insemination with unprepared thawed frozen donor semen in subsequent treatment cycles, with each p atient serving as her own control. Eleven pregnancies ensued from 54 c ycles of intrauterine insemination (20.4% per cycle), and 2 pregnancie s ensued from 58 cycles of pericervical insemination (3.4% per cycle, p = .005). Five pregnancies ensued during the first treatment cycle (1 3.2%), 4 during the second treatment cycle (17.4%), 2 during the third (13.2%), 1 during the fourth (7.1%), and 1 after the fourth treatment cycle (4.8%). The significantly better pregnancy rate from intrauteri ne insemination with prepared semen supports this treatment option. Th e decrease in pregnancy rate after the fourth treatment cycle confirms the need for alternative therapy after 4 failed cycles of therapeutic donor insemination.