ABSTRACT
With artificial insemination by husband (AIH), the psychosocial implications are minimal, since aside from the stress associated with all infertility treatments, the practice of AIH replicates reproduction by two partners through sexual intercourse. In donor insemination (DI), the traditional interpersonal dynamics of reproduction are substantially altered. Similar to other reproductive technologies that separate sexual intercourse from reproduction, DI can alter the usual parameters of time and space in reproductive behavior. Women using self-insemination can negotiate different arrangements with their donors. Very little attention has been devoted to male infertility except via DI, where the male partner may become a bystander as the doctors and his female partner work toward solving the problem for which he is seen to be responsible. In the United States, several studies showed that about two-thirds of semen donors would be unwilling to donate if payment were withdrawn.
