FDA Sperm Donation Rule Excluding Gay Men

The American Fertility Association (AFA) disagrees with the 2005 Food and Drug Administration's (FDA) sperm donation guidelines. These guidelines could be interpreted to prohibit men who have had sex with men in the last five years from making anonymous sperm donations. The FDA says a donor's sexual orientation serves as the basis for anonymous sperm donation, rather than engagement in high-risk sexual behavior (unprotected sex). This rule suggests that a heterosexual man having unprotected sex with multiple partners is eligble to donate sperm while a gay man practicing safe-sex in a monogamous relationship will not. "Fertility clinics across the United States already ensure that donated sperm is safe, regardless of the sexual orientation of the donor," stated Pamela Madsen, Executive Director of The American Fertility Association, the largest, national patient advocacy organization for fertility-related issues. "This FDA rule does not enhance the safety of sperm donations in any scientifically-meaningful way. It also singles out gay men as a disease group and perpetuates dangerous myths about their bodies as the locus of disease. "Fertility clinics in the United States already test a sperm donor at the time of his initial donation, freeze the sperm for a six-month quarantine, and then test the donor again to confirm no new sign of infectious diseases." The FDA's focus ought to be ensuring that all sperm donations, regardless of the donor's sexual orientation, are properly screened and tested," says the AFA. Ironically, the FDA's restriction on gay men's ability to donate sperm comes at a time when more gay men and women are choosing to start families.
The AFA reaches out to this growing community by providing alternative family-building information on surrogacy, egg and sperm donation and legal referrals. "This rule inhibits rather than encourage donors to speak openly and honestly about their sexual activity and relevant high-risk sexual behavior," adds the AFA. Visit the AFA at http://www.theafa.org or call 888-917-3777 for more information.