FDA to Allow Gay Men to Become Sperm Donors

FDA To End Ban On Gay Sperm Donors

During the height of the AIDS epidemic, the FDA instituted a ban on sperm donors who had sex with other men. This week the Wall Street Journal reported that that is in the process of changing. The current ban is meant to curb the spreading of communicable diseases like HIV and regardless of safety precautions taken by the donor, if you have had sex in the last five years with a man, that's a big red light.

By the summer, the FDA is reportedly doing away with the ban and instead implementing more diligent screening questions to determine the risk of spreading disease. Regulations already require for HIV testing. The biggest element to this is that sperm donations can now be used for in vitro fertilization (IVF) for LGBTQ couples. IVF has become yet another right that has been challenged by conservative politicians. In Alabama, there was a court ruling that banned IVF (though it was shortlived) and Senate Republicans blocked a nationwide bill that would protect IVF procedures.

 

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This ban removal from the FDA comes from decades of activism by LGBTQ groups, who maintain such bans are out of date and label the LGBTQ community as diseased. This ban lift comes a year after the FDA made changes to the ban on gay and bi men donating blood. The stigma towards those with HIV still exists nationwide. 37 states still have criminal laws for those with HIV. In those states, you can be punished for the non-disclosure of HIV status to a sexual partner, exposing someone to HIV through sex, blood donation, or needle use, and for sex workers who have HIV. In Louisiana, Ohio, and South Dakota, if you are arrested on HIV-related charges, you also have to file with the sex offender registry. With the advancement of HIV prevention and treatment, activist groups are calling for states to amend or curtail some of the HIV laws that are in place. Tennessee just last year removed the sex offender registration requirement.

 

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As far as men who have sex with other men, those who engage in drug use via needles and who identify as sex workers or have been paid for sex in the last five years will still be banned for both blood and sperm donation. Yes, we still have a long way to go, but at least we are making the strides.