A non-randomized clinical trial to determine the safety and efficacy of a novel sperm sex selection technique

Abstract

The desire to have offspring of a specific sex has a long history but has been particularly present with the appearance of assisted reproduction. However, embryo selection raises ethical concerns. Thus, several techniques to select sex-specific spermatozoa have been proposed but carry limitations. There are many variations of each technique, and some are time consuming and costly. Concerns about effectiveness and safety have also rendered many of them unappealing. Therefore, we propose a novel sperm sex selection technique (SST) that appears to be consistently safe and effective. A single-center, non-randomized clinical trial was designed. We included 1,317 couples, who were assigned to one of two groups: ICSI/PGTA or ICSI/PGTA+GS. Ejaculates from male partners of couples in the ICSI/PGTA+GS group (n = 105) were processed using SST to enrich spermatozoa for their desired sex. Standard sperm processing was carried out for couples undergoing PGT-A solely for aneuploidy (n = 1,212), comprising the ICSI/PGTA control group. To validate the efficacy of our technique, we performed an analysis on spermatozoa pre- and post-selection, followed by an assessment of the proportion of the conceptuses’ sex to confirm clinical reliability. We also followed up on ICSI clinical outcomes and child/newborn health to establish the safety of our method. Our main outcome measures included the proportion of spermatozoa and embryos enriched for female and male sex, as well as embryo euploidy rates and ICSI clinical outcomes. These outcomes were compared between the two groups. For the ICSI/PGTA group (n = 1,212) (maternal age, 37.0±4yrs; paternal age, 39.1±6yrs), with ejaculated spermatozoa processed in the standard fashion, 2,303 ICSI cycles (1.2±1) yielded an 81.0% (14,375/17,737) fertilization. PGT-A results indicated a euploidy rate of 73.1% (n = 3,718) for female and 72.4% (n = 3,054) for male embryos. These couples achieved a 76.4% (699/915) implantation and 65.2% (597/915) clinical pregnancy rate, with 551 deliveries (48.5% female, 51.5% male). All 105 men in the ICSI/PGTA+GS group had sperm specimens with an equal sex distribution at baseline. Of them, 59 (paternal age, 40.9±6yrs) who desired female offspring obtained an 81.6% enrichment after SST. They underwent 73 ICSI cycles with their partners (maternal age, 37.9±4yrs), achieving a 77.3% (583/754) fertilization. This resulted in 79.1% (231/292) female embryos that generated a 79.3% (23/29) implantation rate, with 16 singleton deliveries of the desired female sex without major or minor congenital malformations. Forty-six couples (maternal age, 37.3±4yrs; paternal age, 40.7±6yrs) desiring male offspring obtained an 80.8% sperm sex enrichment. They underwent 50 ICSI cycles, achieving a 75.4% (462/613) fertilization and equivalent proportion of male embryos (223/280, 79.6%). Their implantation was 90.5% (19/21), with 13 singleton deliveries of healthy male offspring. Furthermore, 78.8% (182/231) of female and 66.4% (148/223) of male embryos from the ICSI/PGTA+GS cohort were euploid. These euploid rates were comparable to those from the ICSI/PGTA group. In couples undergoing ICSI with PGT-A, SST consistently enriched spermatozoa, resulting in a higher proportion of embryos and thus offspring of the desired sex. Moreover, SST did not impair the fertilization or embryo developmental competence of spermatozoa, nor did it affect offspring health. Trial registration: Clinicaltrials.gov NCT05500573.