According to reports, the Guangdong Provincial Human Sperm Bank has provided nearly 130,000 copies of qualified frozen semen, benefiting more than 12,000 families and giving birth to nearly 15,000 children.
The Guangdong Human Sperm Bank is the third human sperm bank in the country
On May 10, the Guangdong Provincial Human Sperm Bank held an open day for science popularization, and more than 40 citizens walked into the Guangdong Provincial Human Sperm Bank to explore the secrets of sperm cryopreservation. Zhang Xinzong, vice president of Guangdong Provincial Reproductive Hospital and director of Guangdong Human Sperm Bank, and Wang Qiling, associate researcher of Guangdong Human Sperm Bank, gave a popular science explanation to the citizens.
The human sperm bank is a public welfare institution that uses ultra-low temperature freezing technology to collect, detect, preserve and provide sperm, and the cryopreserved sperm is used to treat infertility, prevent genetic diseases and provide reproductive insurance.
Guangdong Provincial Human Sperm Bank is affiliated to Guangdong Provincial Reproductive Hospital, which is the only human sperm bank in Guangdong Province approved by the former Ministry of Health in 2003, and is also the third human sperm bank in the country.
According to Vice President Zhang Xinzong, the largest semen analysis and quality control platform built by the Guangdong Human Sperm Bank has attracted more than 190 reproductive centers and human sperm banks from various provinces and cities to voluntarily participate; In the past five years, the number of trainees in the human sperm bank technical training base of the National Health Commission has accounted for about 80% of the three sperm bank technical training bases in China; The standardized management document has guided the construction and operation of 21 human sperm banks across the country.
The human sperm bank is open to sperm donors and sperm savers
Who can use sperm from the human sperm bank? According to reports, the service objects of the human sperm bank are mainly two types of people: one is sperm donation volunteers who are willing to donate sperm; The second is healthy people who preserve sperm for themselves, patients before tumor treatment, or patients with infertility.
It is reported that the Guangdong Provincial Human Sperm Bank has received more than 30,000 sperm donation volunteers, with a total of more than 20 million copies of frozen semen and more than 100,000 copies of existing inventory. The amount of self-sperm preservation has reached more than 3,800 cases, including 1,950 tumor patients.
By the end of 2023, the frozen semen samples of the Guangdong Human Sperm Bank will be used in 54 reproductive medicine centers across the country, 27 in the province and 27 outside the province, with a total of nearly 130,000 qualified frozen semen supplies, benefiting more than 12,000 families and giving birth to nearly 15,000 children.
The pass rate of sperm donors is about 20%.
Are there any physical requirements for sperm donors? According to reports, the human sperm bank conducts strict health examination and screening of sperm donation volunteers, and the basic conditions required by the Guangdong Human Sperm Bank for sperm donation volunteers are: Chinese citizens; Age 20-45 years old, height 168cm or above; Bachelor's degree or above; Be in good health and have no family history of sexually transmitted diseases, genetic diseases or genetic diseases, such as high myopia, color blindness and color weakness. In addition, according to the technical specifications of the National Human Sperm Bank, it is also clearly stipulated that sperm donation cannot be made for large-area tattoos.
After strict screening, including health status, whether there are chromosomal abnormalities and genetic diseases, whether the reproductive system is normal, whether the semen quality meets the sperm donation standards, etc., qualified people can donate sperm. In recent years, the pass rate is about 20%.
"If I am a sperm donor volunteer, will my identity information, facial information, etc. be revealed? Will there be children coming to the door? At the event, some citizens were concerned about personal information.
Associate researcher Wang Qiling said that the principle of confidentiality is strictly implemented for sperm donation volunteers and the human sperm bank, and no one else can access the relevant information. The principle of mutual blinding is implemented in the use of semen, that is, the sperm bank, the sperm donation volunteer and the reproductive center, and the patients receiving the sperm donor are double-blind to each other, and the specimens provided by the sperm bank and the information provided to the reproductive medicine center do not contain any personal information of the sperm donor, and at the same time, the use of sperm donor provided by the sperm center to the sperm bank does not contain any personal information of the fertilized person.
Multiple system guarantees to avoid the marriage of close relatives of sperm donors
First of all, the mainland stipulates that one citizen can only donate sperm at one sperm bank in China, and cannot donate sperm at multiple sperm banks.
Secondly, the mainland is very strict about the number of offspring born with sperm donation, and the semen of a sperm donation volunteer can only pregnancy a maximum of 5 women, while in other countries, such as the United States, 25 women can be pregnant, and European countries such as France, the United Kingdom, and Russia generally get 10 women pregnant. "Our country has a large population base, donated semen is used all over the country, and the probability of consanguineous marriage is almost zero."
Thirdly, the sperm bank permanently stores the follow-up information when volunteers donate semen, and if necessary, the fertilizer can apply to the sperm bank for marriage and childbirth consultation through the sperm use agency.
Fourth, with the advancement of genetic testing technology, the offspring of sperm donation can go to a formal medical institution for genetic testing before marriage to avoid marriage between close relatives.
Can unmarried women use sperm banks to donate sperm to "remove father and child"? Not at this time
"I don't want to get married, but I want to have a baby, can I apply for sperm from the human sperm bank?" "The sperm from the human sperm bank has been tested and the quality is guaranteed, what process do I want to go through when I apply?" According to reports, many friends have recently consulted the Guangdong Provincial Reproductive Hospital, and some single women want to borrow sperm from the sperm bank to "give birth out of wedlock".
At present, semen from human sperm banks is used for fertility, which requires assisted reproductive technology through donor sperm. Assisted reproductive technology for donor sperm includes donor sperm artificial insemination technology and donor sperm IVF technology, which refers to the frozen semen donated by volunteers after being processed by laboratory staff through artificial insemination or IVF technology to achieve the purpose of conception. It is mainly suitable for couples with azoospermia, the man and/or the family with serious genetic diseases that are not suitable for childbearing, etc.
According to the current laws and regulations in mainland China, assisted reproductive technology is only carried out for legal couples. Therefore, unmarried women cannot apply to use human sperm banks to donate semen to conceive and have children at this stage.
Zhang Xinzong, vice president of Guangdong Provincial Reproductive Hospital and director of the human sperm bank, said that the sperm bank does not accept applications for personal use, and only donates sperm to legally qualified reproductive medicine centers. If the legal couple meets the relevant conditions and indications for donor sperm assisted reproduction after examination and review, the legally qualified reproductive medicine center shall submit the request for the use of donor sperm frozen semen to the human sperm bank.
He cautioned that semen from unknown sources may pose a risk of genetic diseases, microbial infections, and sexually transmitted infections, so it is recommended to choose a qualified legal reproductive medicine center for sperm donation.
Source: Southern Metropolis Daily