Oocyte and sperm donations: today, the number of donations is not sufficient to meet needs as quickly as possible in France.

Nearly 5,000 couples affected by medical infertility seek oocyte or sperm donation in France every year: even though the overall trend is encouraging, with a 38% rise in the number of gamete donors between 2015 and 20161 and 76% of French people declaring themselves in favor of this type of donation in 20202 , the number of donors, stable for the past 3 years, is not sufficient to meet the needs of all waiting couples.

The Agence de la biomédecine, in conjunction with donation centers, is launching a new national campaign from November 16 to December 6, 2020 to raise awareness and provide information about gamete donation. In this period of the Covid-19 epidemic and reconfinement, this campaign aims to enable potential new donors to initiate and mature reflection on this essential donation for thousands of people every year. The Agency points out that until the new bioethics law, currently under discussion in Parliament, is enacted, the current legal framework for gamete donation will continue to apply.

Gamete donation in France: on the rise since 2015, but still insufficient

After a significant rise in donations in 2016 following the opening of donation to people who had never procreated (+38%), the number of male and female donors has remained stable overall since then.

In 2018, 777 women donated their oocytes and 386 men their spermatozoa, and 1,270 children were born from medically assisted reproduction with gamete donation.

While the increase in these donations since 2015 is encouraging, it remains fragile and still too inadequate to meet the needs of infertile couples. In 2018, more than 5,000 couples registered with a center to begin a process of medically assisted procreation with recourse to gamete donation1 . The main consequence is a waiting time of up to 2 years, depending on the center.

The French and gamete donation

The opinion survey carried out by the Agence de la biomédecine in 20202 explored French people's perceptions and knowledge of gamete donation. The results show that, overall, 76% of French people are in favor of gamete donation, and that almost one in two people of donating age say they are ready to make a donation.

The principle of solidarity with couples unable to have children remains the primary motivation for donation for 55% of those questioned.

However, while public opinion seems sensitive to the situation of infertile couples, donation itself and the rules governing it are still too little known to the public. Only 27% of those questioned said they were well informed on the subject2.

1. Agence de la biomédecine medical and scientific activity report 2018. For information: the annual results of donor AMP activity are available with a two-year lag. This is because they have to take into account the delay in pregnancy in order to assess the number of births thanks to this technique, as well as the time needed to collect and consolidate the data required by the donation centers and the Agency.

2. Study carried out by the Viavoice institute for the Agence de la biomédecine. Telephone survey conducted from January 10 to 16, 2020, with a sample of 1,015 people, representative of the French population aged 18 and over.