Fertility potential of individual sperm donors

Objective: To study the fertility potential of individual semen donors with ejaculates of optimal as compared to suboptimal quality. Methods: 363 seme n donations were obtained from 11 donors between January 1993 and September 1997. 270 samples were cryopreserved and 1,399 straws obtained from 120 ej aculates were used in 495 insemination cycles. Results: 52 pregnancies were achieved in 128 recipients (40.6%). No significant differences were found between donors of high fecundability and those of low fecundability regardi ng sperm parameters. The mean donor fecundability index was 10.5%. The opti mal and suboptimal samples yielded similar results. Donors with suboptimal semen quality had an increased number of samples rejected after thawing. Co nclusion: Traditional semen analysis parameters do not differentiate high f rom low fecundability donors. Suboptimal results of the semen analysis shou ld not exclude potential donors from an artificial insemination donor (AID) program.