As part of new Food and Drug Administration policies to go into effect May 25 , men who engage in sex with other men will not be allowed to donate sperm.
Some sperm banks already have similar rules in place.
“As far as the industry is concerned, this is nothing new,” said Donna Ridder, laboratory supervisor for Cryobiology, Inc., a sperm bank in Columbus.
Most sperm banks, as well as blood banks and other tissue donor facilities, have policies banning members of groups deemed “high risk” for diseases such as HIV/AIDS from donating tissue, Ridder said. This group includes intravenous drug users, as well as men who engage in gay sex, she said.
Members of these groups are identified by their answers on pre-donation questionnaires, she said.
There have been laws in place for many years banning those who engage in gay sex from donating blood and other tissues, but sperm donation has not been as big of a concern because of the thoroughness of testing done at banks, she said. A sample is tested at least three times, and may be tested up to five times before it is released, she said.
The timing of this new policy seems a little suspect to Brett Genny Beemyn, coordinator of Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual, and Transgender Student Services.
“This is an example of where they are ruling on right-wing histrionics and not legitimate science,” Beemyn said.
Being gay or bisexual does not make one more likely to have AIDS, Beemyn said. Their behavior is what is important.
There are many gay men in monogamous relationships who would be less likely to have AIDS than promiscuous heterosexual men, Beemyn said.
Excluding a group of people based on how they fit into a social group creates a dangerous precedent, Beemyn said. Black men could be excluded by this logic, since the AIDS rate is higher among blacks, he said.
This view is a misinterpretation of the sentiment behind the policy, said Scott Brubaker, chief policy officer for the American Association of Tissue Banks, of which Cryobiology is a member.
The policy is worded to ban those who engage in male-to-male sex, not gay men, Brubaker said.
“It’s not about a group, it’s about an act,” Brubaker said.
The AATB regulates many different body tissues, including blood, bone, and eye tissue. All organizations must follow AATB regulations, which include bans on those in “high risk” groups.
The goal of these regulations is not to ban people from donating, but to protect the recipient, Brubaker said. While all tissue donations are tested very thoroughly, no test is completely accurate.
If a test came back negative for AIDS, but the donor had admitted to engaging in homosexual sex, or using intravenous drugs, the donation would be thrown out, Brubaker said.
The ban is only on anonymous donations, Brubaker said. If a woman wished to receive a directed donation, a donation where she knew the recipient, that would be allowed.
The difference is that the woman would know the risk she is taking, Brubaker said.
