Establishing a clinical program for human immunodeficiency virus 1-seropositive men to father seronegative children by means of in vitro fertilization with intracytoplasmic sperm injection

OBJECTIVE: We assessed the safety and efficacy of providing assisted reproduction to men who are seropositive for human immunodeficiency virus type 1 (HIV-1). STUDY DESIGN: HIV-1-serodiscordant couples underwent in vitro fertilization with intracytoplasmic sperm injection (IVF-ICSI). Patients were screened for HIV-1 3 and 6 months after embryo transfer to determine safety. Infants and mothers were tested at delivery and at 3 months after delivery. Clinical outcomes were compared with those of matched control couples who had undergone IVF-ICSI to measure efficacy. RESULTS: There were no seroconversions in women (n = 34) or offspring (n = 25) after 55 embryo transfers. Treatment efficacy was similar to that for control couples: retrieved eggs (15.8 ± 1.3 vs 12.3 ± 0.8); fertilization rate (64.9% vs 68.0%); embryos cryopreserved (1.1 ± 0.3 vs 0.3 ± 0.1, P < .05); clinical pregnancies per embryo transfer (45.5% vs 35.4%); ongoing or delivered pregnancies per embryo transfer (30.9% vs 25.0%). CONCLUSION: Although findings are preliminary, IVF-ICSI provides HIV-1-serodiscordant couples with a reasonably safe means of having children because their assisted reproduction performance is similar to that of conventional patients.