From Dreams to Reality: Biological Family Building For Men with HIV
PFC believes HIV-positive men should have the opportunity to become fathers just as much as anyone else. We have already worked successfully with over 25 HIV positive dads who as a result have achieved their goal of healthy parenthood.
The Spar Technology
SPAR technology utilizes polymerase chain reaction (PCR) techniques to detect the HIV virus in semen specimens from men infected with HIV. If the semen is found to be free of virus, the sperm it contains is then frozen and stored for later use.SPAR focuses on testing the semen rather than the blood because it has been shown that HIV blood testing is not a reliable predictor of viral burden in semen. In fact, data collected by Bedford scientists in 2006 revealed that the semen specimens of 24% of men whose blood had tested negative for the HIV virus still revealed the presence of the HIV virus.
What Is the Process
Once you have been admitted to our program, a thorough evaluation of your HIV history, duration of disease, health status and other relevant factors will first be made. Then you will be asked to produce at least two semen samples, which will be tested for HIV using PCR assay that detects both free virus particles in seminal plasma as well as cells that are actually infected with HIV. The sperm extracted from those semen samples that are deemed to be absent of virus will be washed, frozen and shipped to the CT Fertility clinic for later use using the standard IVF techniques we use to create embryos that will then be transferred into your surrogate.
What Is The Risk To The Surrogate Mother Or The Baby
Of course extensive counseling of the intended surrogate (and her partner or spouse) will have been carried out to ensure her complete understanding and acceptance of every aspect of her care. Using this technology, there have been zero cases of infection in the several hundred successful births (according to data from Bedford as recent as August 2012). In fact, the risk of HIV infection to the surrogate mother or to the baby is less than it would be if a pregnancy had been attempted by using unprotected sex or sperm from untested specimens.
