The Perception of Donor Gametes from Male and Female Members of Infertile Couples
September 2008
in “
Fertility and Sterility
”
Studysummary This study found that both men and women in infertile couples perceive using donor sperm as more likely to cause stress, marital problems, and a diminished sense of joint parenthood compared to donor eggs. Our plain-language summary of this paper — not a Tressless recommendation.
The document reports on a study examining the attitudes of men and women in infertile couples towards the use of donor sperm (DS) and donor eggs (DE) for achieving pregnancy. The study included 380 couples, with men averaging 36.9 years and women 35.7 years in age. The findings revealed that both men and women felt they would have less control over their lives and experience more stress when using their respective donor gametes. They also believed that the use of DS would more likely lead to marital problems and a decreased sense of having jointly created a child compared to the use of DE. These perceptions suggest a unique underlying view regarding the use of male donor gametes. The study highlights the importance of considering both partners' feelings in decisions about using donor gametes in infertility treatments.
