Donor Sperm Notification Campaign Begins

A notification campaign is underway in Atlantic Canada in response to a Health Canada advisory regarding donor semen and the possible risk of exposure to infectious agents.

Health Canada discovered that some semen banks in Canada were non-compliant with semen guidelines. In July of 1999, Health Canada advised that recipients of donor semen should be notified of a potential risk from some infectious agents, and that recipients should be tested for those infectious agents. However, Health Canada's recommendations were based on the concern that some of the companies that store semen had deficiencies in the screening of donor sperm.

"The company that supplies donor semen to the Reproductive Endocrine Centre at the IWK Grace Health Centre -- the primary site for artificial insemination in Atlantic Canada -- is fully compliant with all Health Canada regulations," said Dr. Jeff Scott, Nova Scotia's medical health officer. "In Atlantic Canada we are not recommending that women who were recipients of donor semen after 1988 be routinely tested for any of the infectious agents identified by Health Canada.

"The risk of infection is very low, but we recognize that recipients may still have concerns, in particular about infections such as Hepatitis C, HIV and Chlamydia," said Dr. Scott. "We have notified doctors across Atlantic Canada and provided them with the relevant information which they can use to discuss the issue risk and testing with their patients."

Donor semen for the IWK Grace has been supplied by a company called Xytex since 1988. The company has used appropriate tests for screening as they became available.

For women who received donor semen before 1988, the supply was as safe as it could be based on the tests available at the time, and they should call the IWK Grace for more information and discuss testing with their doctor.

Immediately following Health Canada's advisory, staff at the Department of Health and IWK Grace launched a review of the therapeutic donor insemination program at the health centre. They worked for several months with colleagues in Atlantic Canada, including experts in the field of infectious diseases, to thoroughly review testing practices and regulation standards. Consultation also took place with Health Canada's Therapeutic Products Program and Laboratory Centre for Disease Control.

Concerned recipients are encouraged to consult their family physician, or call the IWK Grace at its toll-free number, 1-877-537-8818.

After a thorough review of other notification procedures on similar issues, it was decided not to notify individual families directly. The choice to undergo donor sperm insemination is highly sensitive for many families and confidentiality and anonymity is important. Changes in names and addresses also compound the task of individual notification. Therefore, a notification to physicians, coupled with a public announcement, was deemed most appropriate.