Screening to reduce transmission of sexually transmitted diseases in semen used for artificial insemination.

The practice of artificial insemination by donor semen is increasing in the United States. Many sexually transmitted organisms are found in semen, but screening procedures for the detection of these agents in donor semen have not been standardized. Sexually transmitted organisms have been transmitted during artificial insemination by donor, and such transmission can cause local, disseminated, or fatal disease in the recipient woman and may harm the fetus or newborn. Therefore, screening of both the donor and the donated semen is necessary to avoid infectious complications. Because semen samples cannot be evaluated completely on the day of donation, the use of fresh semen for artificial insemination should be discouraged. Until accurate, rapid diagnostic tests are available, only frozen semen that has been appropriately screened should be used.