FDA set to ban gay men as sperm donors

Contents:

• FDA SET TO BAN GAY MEN AS SPERM DONORS
• WHY GAY MEN AND OTHER GROUPS ARE BANNED OM DONATG SPERM
• 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
• NEW L FOR GAY SPERM DONORS TO BE TRODUCED US

FDA SET TO BAN GAY MEN AS SPERM DONORS

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.

WHY GAY MEN AND OTHER GROUPS ARE BANNED OM DONATG SPERM

“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 .

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.

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

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.

NEW L FOR GAY SPERM DONORS TO BE TRODUCED US

”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.

'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 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.