• Roy Bitan, Michal Youngster, Ana Umanski, Sarita Kaufman, Alon Kedem, Sarit Avraham, Gil Yerushalmi, Ariel Hourvitz, and Itai Gat.
• Sperm Bank and Andrology Unit, Shamir Medical Center (Assaf Harofeh), Zerifin, Israel, Faculty of Medicine, Tel Aviv University, Tel Aviv, Israel.
• Isr Med Assoc J. 2023 Dec 1; 25 (12): 809814809-814.

BackgroundSperm banks initially focused on providing sperm donation (SD) to heterosexual couples grappling with severe male infertility. Notable advancements in fertility treatments and sociological trends have broadened the scope of SD toward single women and same sex female couples.ObjectivesTo evaluate SD recipient characteristics over the last three decades in Israel according to demographic parameters.MethodsThis retrospective cohort study included 5489 women who received SD between January 1992 and December 2021 from a tertiary referral center. We divided the overall period into six groups of five years each. A comparison of demographic characteristics of women who received SD in different periods was performed according to age at the beginning of the treatment, marital status (single women and same sex female couples, heterosexual couples), and ethnic origin.ResultsThe average age of women who received SD was 37.02 ± 5.36 years. The average patient age rose from 35.08 years in 1992-1997 to 37.43 years in 2017-2021 (P-value < 0.01). The use of SD was more common among single women and same sex female couples compared to heterosexual couples in later years. Regarding single and same sex female couple, the percentage of SD recipients increased radically from 33% to 88.1% (P-value < 0.01).ConclusionsModern sperm banks treat older patients in non-heterosexual relationships. These trends encompass not only medical implications (e.g., in vitro fertilization vs. intrauterine insemination) but also delve into the personal and sociological impact experienced by both patients and offspring.

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