US government puts the squeeze on unauthorized sperm donor

Dec 19, 2011, 21:29 GMT

San Francisco - The US government has ordered an unauthorized sperm donor to stop giving away his semen or face a year in jail and a 100,000-dollar fine, the San Francisco Chronicle reported Monday.

Trent Arsenault, 36, an engineer at tech giant HP, has already fathered 14 children through his personal contributions, and he made three more women pregnant just last month.

Arsenault, who has been donating his sperm for free for five years, uses his website to reach out to couples looking for a sperm donor. He says he stopped contributing to regular sperm banks, which offer anonymity and cash for donors, because he wanted to meet future parents and perhaps have a relationship with the children.

The US Food and Drug Administration says that his approach violates rules requiring anyone who donates sperm to be tested for communicable diseases, like HIV or syphilis, at least five days before the donation.

Arsenault says he had been tested just five time since 2006 during which time he has made 348 sperm donations to 46 women.

His donation process is simple. He posts numerous personal details on his website, such as his fondness for organic food, personality traits, hobbies and family history. After a recipient chooses him they sign a contract that absolves him of any paternal rights or responsibilities and then the woman contacts him when she reaches her optimum time for conception.

'It only takes me 15 minutes to do my part,' he told the paper. 'They'll send me a text message, and by the time they get to my house, it's hot off the press.'

He stores the donation in a sterile cup, and the woman takes it somewhere else to inseminate herself.

Arsenault says that it would be prohibitively expensive to get tested each time. He plans to fight the government request, which he says will impact thousands of couples who go to friends and acquaintances for sperm donations.

'What the FDA is doing infringes on reproductive rights. The government is reaching into the bedroom,' Arsenault said. 'There's no precedence for my case. Whatever happens to me kind of sets the future up for all the other people in these situations - the couples plus the donors.'