What does sperm washing mean?
What is sperm washing?
The medical procedure for washing a person's sperm, of the seminal fluid.
Definition
A procedure in which an infected (HIV+) person's sperm is cleaned using a centrifuge, which cleans it of the seminal fluid. While it is a procedure commonly used in Infertility treatment, it became used for Serodiscordant couples in the Mid 1990's, but mainly in Italy.
This is done, for artificial insemination of a woman, so that the couple can conceive children, that are biologically theirs.
First started in Milan, it has proven successful in that the transmission of the HIV virus to the woman, and to the child seems to have been prevented, by such a procedure.
Noteworthy: The oldest child conceived, using this procedure is 11, and has shown no signs of having the HIV virus. Baby Ryan, in the United States, (1999) has also shown no signs of HIV, nor have the female mothers of these children.
This procedure was developed for Serodiscordant couples, who wished to conceive children, but the male partner was HIV+.