3/3/96

Here in WA we have a case of spinomuscular atrophy from a child born out of donor insemination. I've been asked to put out a call to find out various country's and clinics' policies on screening prospective donors for CF carrier status. As the background is approximately 1 in 25 this would seem a sensible precaution, However, there seems to be little in the literature concerning this.

The following are the only references I have. Can anyone shed light on current protocols in donor banks?

1. Traystman MD, Schulte NA, Macdonald M, J.R. A, Sanger WG. Mutation analysis for cystic fibrosis to determine carrier status in 167 sperm donors from the Nebraska genetic semen bank. Human Mutation 1994;4(4):271-275. 2. Fugger EF, Maddalena A, Schulman JD. Results of retroactive testing of human semen donors for cystic fibrosis and human immunodeficiency virus by polymerase chain reaction. Hum Reprod 1993;8(9):1435-1437. 3. Findlay I, Cuckle H, Lilford RJ, Rutherford AJ, Quirke P, Lui S. Screening sperm donors for cystic fibrosis. British Medical Journal 1995;310(6993):1533.