[Assisted reproductive technologies with sperm donation]

Introduction: The purpose of this review is to relate to the operating rules of CECOS in France and the legal, medical and ethical issues raised by sperm donation.

Material and methods: Review of articles and consensus conferences on this subject published in Medline (PubMed) selected from 1973 and 2011 according to their relevance and Acts recorded on official legislative French websites.

Results: The operating rules of CECOS were established by the Act of July 29, 2004, revised 6 August 2004 and July 7, 2011. Of the 21,759 children born of ART in France in 2009, 5.1% are from a sperm donation. From 1973 to 2006, 44,045 children are born after a sperm donation. Between 1973 and 2006, 16,971 donors are presented in the CECOS and only 10,347 donors have completely made their donation process. The main indication for use of donor sperm (75% of applications) is represented by men of infertile couples with nonobstructive azoospermia, the second indication is infertile men with oligospermia. In azoospermia, the application is usually performed after failure of testicular or epididymal surgical specimen. In oligozoospermia, claims made most often after several failures of intraconjugal ART.

Conclusion: Many questions are still present around the conception of children by sperm donation. The legitimacy of maintaining anonymity in the gift remains widely debated.