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BACKGROUND: This study was designed to determine the efficacy of a programme using frozen donor semen in a cohort of patients returning for treatment after previously conceiving through donor insemination (DI). METHODS: The cohort included 222 couples with secondary infertility (previous live birth) in one University Hospital Centre. The treatment sequence involved DI cycles until completion. Live births, drop-out for personal or medical reasons and recourse to IVF with donor semen (IVF-D) were recorded for all patients. Live births were expressed as both rate per cycle and crude cumulative rate. RESULTS: At the end of the DI cycles, 65% of couples in the cohort achieved second parenthood. Most of them (77%) succeeded after only four DI cycles. The majority of couples who stopped treatment did so for personal reasons. CONCLUSIONS: Patients involved in a second parenthood project belong to a selected population. Management and counselling of such patients need to reconcile the early efficacy of DI cycles, the invasiveness of the IVF-D procedure and the availability of donor semen. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND Whether extended culture allowing selection of embryos with high development potential has any advantage over cleavage-stage embryo transfer remains a matter of debate. Among the currently unsolved questions, the cumulative delivery rate resulting from fresh and frozen embryo transfers needs to be taken into account in both strategies. The aim of our study was, therefore, to compare the efficacy of single embryo transfer either on Day 2 or on Day 5/6 combining fresh and frozen embryo transfers. METHODS A prospective study including 478 couples assigned on a voluntary basis to undergo elective single embryo transfer (eSET, n = 243) on Day 2 or single blastocyst transfer (SBT, n = 235) on Day 5/6 was performed. The primary outcome measurement was the cumulative delivery rate including fresh and frozen–thawed cycles in both groups. RESULTS The delivery rate per cycle following fresh embryo transfer was significantly higher in the SBT group compared with the eSET group (P CONCLUSIONS The observed cumulative delivery rates in this study do not allow us to take a position in favor of SBT or eSET. An improvement in blastocyst cryopreservation may change this attitude. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]