Birth: Incidence of birth defects after artificial insemination with frozen donor spermatozoa: a collaborative study of the French CECOS Federation on 11 535 pregnancies

Artificial insemination using cryogenically preserved spermatozoa has been widely used in human reproduction for several decades. No evaluation of the resulting pregnancies and conceptions has been undertaken in sufficiently large study populations for minor variations to be distinguished. This study involves 11 535 pregnancies conceived by artificial insemination using donor spermatozoa and followed from the time that pregnancy was diagnosed. The pregnancies followed a normal course with, in particular, no excessive fetal losses. While the global incidence of birth defects was similar to that of natural conception, our observations raise doubts concerning trisomy 21. The frequency of trisomy 21 was somewhat elevated when compared with French malformation registries. A recruitment bias could, in part, explain this discrepancy, but donor age cannot be excluded as an influencing factor.