Sperm Washing

It is no longer a problem for the sero-positive couples to think about expanding their families. On one hand, the pregnant mothers have access to affordable anti-HIV medications that can completely recuperate their children from the disease in their future. On the other hand, there is sperm washing, which is a small contribution on the part of the HIV positive fathers to save their babies.

What is sperm washing?

HIV resides in the semen of HIV-positive men. It is a recent technique that concentrates and separates the fertile sperm from the infected sperm, in a HIV positive male. When a woman wants to get pregnant, she is artificially inseminated with the virus free sperm that prompts to a safe ovulation.

History of sperm washing

This technique was invented in Milan Italy, to ensure that no female acquires the disease from a HIV-positive male. It was first introduced in the 90s, with the aim to help the HIV positive couples to conceive a healthy baby. Sperm washing has gained the maximum success in Italy, as no woman, who has undergone this process, had contracted the disease. The first child in Italy, who was born under the process of sperm washing, is HIV-negative. There have been no signs of HIV, in his life of so fat, though he is above eleven years. Now days, many couples opt for sperm washing.

How is sperm washing done?

Before the process starts, the sperm has to be tested properly, resorting to PCR (polymerase chain reaction). Then sperm washing is done with the help of centrifuge. It is a device that spins at a high speed to separate the sperm from the other seminal fluids in a given sample of semen. Then the sperms are purified in a solution twice, in order to clean the other unwanted substances in it, including the HIV. Sperm washing is not only applied to HIV-infected sperm, but also other sexually contagious diseases.

Benefits of Sperm washing

• It saves the female partner from getting infected with HIV
• It enables the HIV positive male to have a healthy family propagation
• This artificial insemination through sperm washing restricts the vertical transmission of the disease from the mother to the child.

Affectivity of sperm washing

• Sperm washing does not guarantee complete separation of HIV. Some trails of the virus might remain in certain cases. The sperms may not be completely cleaned in 100% of the cases. However, it curtails the inevitable chances of vertical and horizontal transmission of the disease.

Sperm washing may have given new hopes to number of HIV positive couples. However, it could not be the most popular means to restrain HIV. This is because; it is a very lengthy and expensive process. It requires collecting the sperm, testing it, storing the sperm for constant testing and so on. Moreover, not every fertility centre is licensed to conduct sperm washing. All these factors make sperm washing extremely costly. The couples in the advanced nations may think of undergoing it, but in the developing and the underdeveloped nations, (which are more affected by HIV), this process is still quite inaccessible.