Gay Black Man Discovers He Can't Donate Sperm
Although many LGBTQ+ couples enlist the services of sperm banks and even though there exists a shortage of samples from Black men in sperm banks across the country, men who have sex with men continue to be forbidden from donating sperm.
TreVaughn Roach-Carter, 26, made that discovery when he received a rejection email a day after contributing to the Sperm Bank of California.The email informed him that since he had indicated that he was gay, and Food and Drug Administration regulations prohibit anonymous sperm donations from men who have had sex with men within the past five years, he could not donate anonymous sperm, the Washington Post reports.“I thought these bans were something that was long gone and over and that I wouldn’t have to worry about it,” Roach-Carter told the paper.He explained that being a donor was essential to him as a gay Black man because he feels that people ought to have the right to have families that look like them.
The Post found that Black sperm donors make up less than 2 percent of sperm donors who have donated to the largest cryobanks in the U.S.Roach-Carter also said that it was also important to help LGBTQ+ couples who utilize the services of sperm banks to have children.“I know that when the time comes for me to have children, it will be a lengthy, stressful, and also probably expensive process.
And I wanted to help make things as easy for other people as possible who would be going through similar things,” he told the paper.The process itself is already highly selective.
