PURPOSES :
We aimed to study the main characteristics and motivations of single women (SW) who have registered for sperm donation at Rouen University Hospital and to compare results of their ART cycles with those of heterosexual couples (HC).
PARTICIPANTS/MATERIALS, SETTING, METHODS :
We conducted an observational, retrospective, monocentric study at the Reproductive Biology Laboratory-CECOS of the Rouen University Hospital, on all 386 SW and 67 HC registered for sperm donation between August 2021 and December 2022. Of these, 105 SW and 34 HC have started ART cycle. To ensure a more robust comparison of the ART cycle’s results, we also included 41 HC who were treated for sperm donation at our centre between 2019 and the first half of 2021. We analysed all the medicosocial and motivational characteristics of the women in the study, as well as the clinical pregnancy rate, the live birth rate and the miscarriage rate.
MAIN RESULTS :
SW were older at the time of registration and at the start of ART cycle, and their ovarian reserve was lower than that of women in HC. Their main reasons for requesting sperm donation were the biological clock and the lack of a suitable partner to build a family project. All ART combined, there was no significant difference in clinical pregnancy or miscarriage rates between SW and HC.
CONCLUSIONS :
Although SW were older and had a lower ovarian reserve, the results of their ART cycles were no worse than those of HC in our study, apart from any adjustment for age. However, these analyses need to be continued over time and space, so that they can be extrapolated and compared with the initial results of lesbian couples.