Sperm washing for HIV patients

Dr Carole Gilling-Smith, from the Chelsea and Westminster Hospital in London, has called for the UK government to support the use of a 'sperm washing' technique for HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) patients. The technique, which involves the use of fertility treatments, may enable HIV positive men to have children with less risk of passing on the virus to either their partners or their children. Dr Gilling-Smith wants it to be available to couples on the NHS.

The sperm washing technique was pioneered in Milan, Italy, in 1988. The latest research, carried out by Dr Gilling-Smith's team at the London hospital, involved 53 couples in which the male partner is affected by HIV. The partners of 16 of the HIV positive men became pregnant after using the technique.

The technique itself is 'simple'. The HIV virus is thought to be present in seminal fluid, while sperm themselves do not carry HIV. The sperm are first centrifuged to separate them from the semen, then 'washed' several times to remove the remaining fluid. The remaining sperm are placed in a substitute fluid which is then inseminated into the woman.

Following the tests, Dr Gilling-Smith has called for the procedure to be available on the NHS because it would, in the long run, lower costs by lowering the number of mothers and children who need treatments for HIV. 'Nothing is 100 per cent safe in life' she said, adding 'what we try to do is reduce that risk. Until this was available, couples had no option but to risk unprotected sex, or to resort to donor sperm - or to live a life without children'.