Data-matching system assists sperm donation

An online matching system for sperm donations using big data and artificial intelligence in Guangdong province has benefited more than 500 couples with infertility problems, the president of Guangdong Provincial Fertility Hospital said.

Using the technologies, the system allows matching of basic information such as blood type, facial shape, nose bridges, skin color, hair distribution and eyelid conditions, according to the hospital.

The online matching system, which started operating last year in Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, aims to better meet the needs of infertile families and reduce birth defects, according to Li Guanming, president of the hospital.

"It helps realize the intelligent comparison of biological features between men of families who are strongly willing to have their children using assistive technologies and sperm donors through the cloud database," he said. "The matching system, to the greatest extent, also helps relieve the worries of couples that need sperm donation to help pregnancy by reducing the concern that the appearance and blood type of children is too different from that of husbands."

The hospital, formerly known as the Family Planning Special Hospital of Guangdong, has the only sperm bank in Guangdong, with more than 190,000 copies of sperm donated so far.

A majority of sperm donation volunteers have higher education backgrounds, with about 89 percent of them having a bachelor's degree or above, according to the hospital.

"They are usually called 'invisible fathers' as the privacy and personal data of sperm donors are absolutely confidential," he said.

According to the sperm donation agreement, donors have no rights and obligations to the children born after sperm donation and they do not know where their donation goes.

"When a child grows up, he or she will not know who his or her biological father is," he said.

Frozen sperm copies in the Guangdong hospital have been used in 53 reproductive centers, including 27 within the province and 26 across the country, according to sources with the hospital.

The sperm donation service by the hospital has so far benefited more than 10,800 families with infertility problems, with 12,161 children born.

The hospital also offers preservation services, encouraging men to store their sperm when they are young and have good quality sperm.

The service, which is more like reproductive insurance, has so far served more than 2,000 men, with the longest one having been preserved for 18 years.

Influenced by pressure from work and lives, a growing number of men have developed infertility problems such as reduced sperm quality and quantity.

According to data released by the National Bureau of Statistics in September, the infertility rate of couples of childbearing age in China has climbed to about 12 to 18 percent.