Outcomes of donor versus partner sperm in intrauterine insemination in women aged 38 years and older

Objective: To compare pregnancy rates of donor versus partner sperm in intrauterine insemination (IUI) cycles in women aged 38 years and above. Methods: A retrospective cohort study was performed using data from 944 women aged 38–43 years old who underwent a combined 1596 IUI cycles at an academic fertility clinic in Montreal, Canada between February 2009 to April 2018. Results: Partner sperm was used in 1421 cycles (89.0%), and donor sperm was inseminated in 175 cycles (11.0%). Mean ages of the women were 39.8 (±1.5) and 40.2 (±1.6) years in the partner and donor insemination groups, respectively (P < 0.001). Positive serum (β human chorionic gonadotropin) pregnancy rate in the partner sperm group was 9.0% (n = 128) whereas that in the donor insemination group was 9.7% (n = 17) (P = 0.759). Clinical pregnancy rates were 5.8% (n = 83) and 8.0% (n = 14) in the respective groups (P = 0.260). There were five multiple gestation (twin) pregnancies in the cohort, three in those undergoing IUI with partner sperm and two in those undergoing IUI with donor sperm. Conclusion: In women aged 38–43 years undergoing IUI with controlled ovarian stimulation, using donor sperm, compared with partner sperm, did not increase rate of pregnancy.