Thank you for your inquiry regarding autism and use of donor sperm. To our knowledge, there is currently no evidence linking the occurrence of autism to the use of donor sperm. Findings from some studies have suggested an association between the use of assisted reproductive technology (ART) and autism; however much of the increased autism risk was explained by complications of pregnancy, such as preterm birth, which are more common among children with autism than children without autism. For example, infants conceived using ART are more likely to be born preterm than infants conceived naturally and all infants born preterm are more likely to have subsequent diagnoses of developmental conditions, including autism.

In addition, results of two studies indicate that the use of intracytoplasmic sperm injection (injection of a single sperm into an egg) may be associated with an increased risk for autism. These studies did not distinguish between use of donor sperm versus use of partner sperm.

Associations have also been documented between autism and several factors that might be more (or less) common among men who have donated sperm. These include various genetic indicators (including copy number variants) and advanced paternal age. However, we are unable to assess the frequencies of these genetic markers or the age of men contributing to sperm banks.

We hope this information helps address your concerns. You might also find your state health department to be helpful. Some references are listed below for additional information.

Christine Fountain, Yujia Zhang, Dmitry M. Kissin, Laura A. Schieve, Denise J. Jamieson, Catherine Rice, and Peter Bearman. Association Between Assisted Reproductive Technology Conception and Autism in California, 1997-2007. American Journal of Public Health. 2015; 105:963-971. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25790396 [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Sven Sandin, Karl-Gösta Nygren, Anastasia Iliadou, Christina M. Hultman, and Abraham Reichenberg. Autism and Mental Retardation Among Offspring

Born After In Vitro Fertilization. JAMA. 2013;310:75-84. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/23821091 [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Dmitry Kissin, Yujia Zhang, Sheree Boulet, Christine Fountain, Peter Bearman, Laura Schieve, Marshalyn Yeargin-Allsopp, and Denise Jamieson. Association of assisted reproductive technology (ART) treatment and parental infertility diagnosis with autism in ART-conceived children. Human Reproduction. 2015;30:454-65. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25518976 [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

Trent Gaugler, Lambertus Klei, Stephan J. Sanders, Corneliu A. Bodea, Arthur P. Goldberg, et al. Most genetic risk for autism resides with common variation. Nature Genetics. 2014;46:881-5 http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25038753 [ncbi.nlm.nih.gov]

— Centers for Disease Control and Prevention email to Danielle Rizzo July 9, 2015

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