Artificial insemination in single mothers

Family types are changing as society evolves.

Among these, we have a type of single-parent family in which the woman decides to be a single mother and uses artificial insemination to get pregnant.

When a woman wants to be a single mother using artificial insemination, what Assisted Reproduction clinics usually recommend is the use of donor semen. To use this resource, the woman must have a good ovarian reserve and her fallopian tubes must be free, so that they can allow the passage of the spermatozoa to the egg, and in this way, that the fertilization of the egg can occur.

The steps to perform an artificial insemination with donor semen are:

  • Perform gentle ovarian stimulation with hormonal medication.

  • Follow up with ultrasound and estrogen analysis.

  • The doctor will indicate the appropriate medication to induce ovulation which must be applied at a particular moment of stimulation.

  • On the indicated day, the doctor will introduce the previously selected semen sample into the uterus through a cannula.

The choice of the anonymous donor may be the responsibility of the user or the institution where the insemination is performed. The specifications that the donated semen must have in order to be used are:

  • The donor must be under 30 years of age.

  • Preferably without children.

  • With a normal karyotype (genetically normal).

  • Free of sexually transmitted infections.

  • With family medical history.

  • Know their blood type.

  • Have a phenotype (physical characteristics so that the recipient has an idea of their appearance).

  • Personality profile and socioeconomic characteristics.

  • The seminal sample must have been frozen for at least six months to ensure the absence of any infection.

  • Some centers keep photographs of the child donor to be reviewed by the recipients or recipient in the case of the single woman, or outlines of current physical characteristics.

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“The idea is to choose a donor whose physical and immunological characteristics resemble those of the woman as closely as possible”

Dr. Otto Paredes
Dr. Otto Paredes
Fertility Expert

Reproductive medicine and gynecological endocrinology
Instituto Valenciano de Infertilidad, Spain.

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