FDA set to ban gay men as sperm donors

Contents:

• WHY GAY MEN AND OTHER GROUPS ARE BANNED OM DONATG SPERM
• FDA SET TO BAN GAY MEN AS SPERM DONORS
• THE FDA'S LSER-KNOWN INSULT: A BAN ON GAY SPERM DONORS
• MAN WHO WANTED TO BE A SPERM DONOR TO HELP BLACK AND LGBTQ FAI SCRIB SHOCK AT RECEIVG REJECTN EMAIL BEE HE'S GAY, REPORT SAYS
• GAY SPERM DONOR TOLD TO PAY CHILD MATENANCE FOR 'HIS' TWO CHILDREN
• 12 DEC 2012 WHO’S YOUR DADDY? HOW GAY DADS DECI WHOSE SPERM TO USE

WHY GAY MEN AND OTHER GROUPS ARE BANNED OM DONATG SPERM

The reason: He checked a box for beg gay, and Food and Dg Admistratn regulatns prohib anonymo sperm donatns om men who have had sex wh men the past five years.

A Washgton Post analysis found Black sperm donors reprent ls than 2 percent of all sperm donors at the untry’s four largt a gay Black man, Roach-Carter said he chose to donate sperm part to aid other LGBTQ upl tryg to build fai. Seattle Sperm Bank said turned away a “really great ndidate” the sprg bee he disclosed he was gay. To the dismay of gay-rights activists, the Food and Dg Admistratn is about to implement new l remendg that any man who has engaged homosexual sex the prev five years be barred om servg as an anonymo sperm FDA has rejected lls to scrap the provisn, sistg that gay men llectively pose a higher-than-average risk of rryg the AIDS vis.

Crics acce the FDA of stigmatizg all gay men rather than adoptg a screeng procs that foc on high-risk sexual behavr by any would-be donor, gay or straight. “Unr the l, a heterosexual man who had unprotected sex wh HIV-posive prostut would be OK as a donor one year later, but a gay man a monogamo, safe-sex relatnship is not OK unls he’s been celibate for five years, ” said Leland Traiman, director of a clic Alameda, Calif., that seeks gay sperm donors. Although there is disagreement over whether the FDA guile regardg gay men will have the force of law, most doctors and clics are expected to observe .

FDA SET TO BAN GAY MEN AS SPERM DONORS

It is likely to affect some lbian upl who want a child and prefer to e a gay man’s sperm for artificial sematn.

“There’s a steadily creasg trend of heterosexual transmissn of HIV, and yet the FDA still has this notn that you protect people by puttg gay men out of the pool. Prospective donors — gay or straight — would be rejected if they had engaged unprotected sex the prev 12 months wh an HIV-posive person, an illegal dg er, or “an dividual of unknown HIV stat outsi of a monogamo relatnship. ”But an FDA spokwoman ced FDA documents suggtg that officials felt the broar excln was pnt even if affected gay men who practice safe sex.

'You n't be too reful'Many doctors and fertily clics already have been rejectg gay sperm donors, cg the pendg FDA l or existg regulatns of the Amerin Society for Reproductive Medice. ”However, some sperm banks, notably California, have weled gay donors. The director of one of them, Alice Ruby of the Oakland-based Sperm Bank of California, said her staff had veloped procr for intifyg gay men wh an acceptably low risk of men are a major donor source at Traiman’s Rabow Flag sperm bank, and he said that practice would ntue spe the new l.

THE FDA'S LSER-KNOWN INSULT: A BAN ON GAY SPERM DONORS

'Directed' gay sperm donors OKThe FDA l do not prohib gay men om servg as “directed” sperm donors. If a woman wishg to bee pregnant knows a gay man and asks that he provi sperm for artificial sematn, a clic uld provi that service even if the man had engaged sex wh other men wh five years. However, Traiman said some lbian upl do not have a gay iend they know and tst well enough to be the blogil father of their child, and would th prefer an anonymo Deborah Cohan, an obstetrics and gynelogy stctor at the Universy of California, San Francis, said some lbians prefer to receive sperm om a gay donor bee they feel such a man would be more receptive to the ncept of a fay head by a same-sex uple.

The episo prompted an evable parison of the sperm ban to another FDA policy targetg gay men -- the ban on blood donatn -- and gave the issue a ph back to public FDA policy barrg MSM om donatg blood is famo, sparkg protts natnwi and even spirg a movement for repeal led by members of Congrs such as Sen. In parison, the ban on gay sperm donors is relatively 's bee the FDA's MSM sperm donatn policy isn't really a "ban.

MAN WHO WANTED TO BE A SPERM DONOR TO HELP BLACK AND LGBTQ FAI SCRIB SHOCK AT RECEIVG REJECTN EMAIL BEE HE'S GAY, REPORT SAYS

While some (if not most) sperm banks certaly abi by the guil, the policy is neher mandatory nor enforced, meang some sperm banks do llect donatns om gay and bisexual FDA policy on blood donatn, on the other hand, affirms that any man who has had sex wh another man sce 1977 is barred om donatg blood for life, a cisn that was upheld by a panel 2010.

Nohels, is still possible to donate sperm as a gay man, and acrdg to Nathan Schaefer, director of public policy for Gay Men's Health Crisis, that's why the policy isn't as wily nmned -- or as thoroughly vered the media -- as the blood ban. "Part of what mak both the blood donatn and sperm donatn guil so stgg to gay rights activists is their nsistency among groups. Gay rights advot assert that the FDA polici are rooted a s-old stereotype associatg gay men wh HIV.

"The nsistenci that are applied to gay men pared wh heterosexuals unrsre their discrimatory nature, " Schaefer says.

GAY SPERM DONOR TOLD TO PAY CHILD MATENANCE FOR 'HIS' TWO CHILDREN

"Leland Traiman is the executive director of Rabow Flag Health Servic and Sperm Bank, an Alameda, Calif., sperm bank that actively recs gay and bisexual sperm donors for known donor sematn.

12 DEC 2012 WHO’S YOUR DADDY? HOW GAY DADS DECI WHOSE SPERM TO USE

He says bee gay and bisexual donors are still turned away om some sperm banks, spe of the FDA guil beg nonbdg, gay rights activists have "won the war, but are losg the battl. "Schaefer says while there are ways around the FDA guil, like enlistg the help of an anizatn such as Rabow Flag Health Servic to fd a lol gay-iendly sperm bank, don't mean the guil are right -- medilly or legally. "It sgl out gay men as unduly risky and a threat to public health.