N.Y. Bans Gays, Intravenous Drug Users as Sperm Donors

ALBANY, N.Y. —  Sperm banks in the state can no longer accept gay men and intravenous drug users as donors because of new state health regulations prompted by fears about AIDS, officials said Tuesday.

For the first time, sperm banks must get a state license and must subject all donors to at least two AIDS tests before their sperm is used, said Mary Anne Gardineer, an associate director of the New York state Health Department.

“Women who choose to undergo artificial insemination should not be subjected to unnecessary risks for serious and even fatal illnesses,” she said.

The regulations took effect Monday and automatically exclude a person from donating sperm if he has had homosexual activity, intravenous drug use or sex since 1977 with a person at high risk for the AIDS virus.

The same people already are barred from donating blood in the state for the same reason, Gardineer said.

Acquired immune deficiency syndrome is caused by a virus that damages the body’s immune system, leaving victims susceptible to infections and cancer. It is spread most often through sexual contact, needles or syringes shared by drug abusers, infected blood or blood products and from pregnant women to their offspring.

The national Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta have no documented cases of AIDS being transmitted through sperm donors, said a spokesman, Chuck Fallis.