FDA Continues to Prohibit Free Sperm Donors

Jane Doe recently sued the FDA and the Department of Healthand Human Services claiming federal regulations preventing a willing donor fromartificially inseminating her for free were unconstitutional.  Jane Doe’s claims were brought on behalf ofTrent Arsenault and were dismissed due to a lack of standing.

Before the FDA intervened, Trent Arsenault advertisedhimself as a free sperm donor, responsible for 18 births and 25 reportedpregnancies.  Jane Doe sought “toconceive via intracervical insemination of fresh donor sperm,” but the FDArequires a medical intermediary such as a medical professional or a semenbank.  She complained the“unconstitutional” regulations restricted her to “often anonymous” donors,required “very expensive” procedures, and “directly prohibited her chosenmethod of procreation.”

See Jonny Bonner, Judge Tosses Demand for FDA-Barred Sperm,Courthouse News Service, July 19, 2013.