According to reports, Black women struggle to find Black sperm donors in American Cryobanks during their fertility journey.
Washington Post Review
In a recent report by the Washington Post, Black women who want to become mothers through artificial insemination are increasingly facing a shortage when finding Black donors. The report stated that Most Black women who go to Cryobanks want to have a child who shares the same cultural roots and skin tone as them, but while demand has been high, supply has been low.
According to a Washington Post analysis, Cryobanks reported that the percentage of Black women seeking their services to conceive significantly increased during the pandemic, yet Black sperm donors represent a small fraction of the available supply at the country’s four largest sperm banks.
A severe shortage is forcing Black women who need donor sperm to make a choice: Choose a donor of another race and raise a biracial child or try to buy sperm from unregulated apps and online groupshttps://t.co/qyM6bYxwKM
— philip lewis (@Phil_Lewis_) October 21, 2022
Many Hurdles
The report further pointed out that the stark shortage is forcing Black women to choose donors from other races or buy sperm from unregulated sources on apps or online groups.
The publication stated that there were many reasons for the scarcity of Black sperm donors, including discrimination, among other things. The report indicated that Cryobanks often failed to recruit Black donors and had a thorough and vigorous medical process that discouraged Black men from donating sperm because many had inadequate access to high-quality medical care.
Genetic Literacy Project Report
Earlier this year, the Genetic Literacy Project released a report stating that the Black sperm donor shortage is also at an all-time high because the process is extremely selective, and only one in every 1,000 applicants (of all races) makes it through the screening process. The process consists of semen analysis, an extensive, three-generation medical history, infectious-disease testing, and a criminal background check. Donors with felony convictions are excluded from the selection process, reducing the supply.
According to the Genetic Literacy Project report, Alyse Mencias, a clinic relations manager at Seattle Sperm Bank, said sperm banks know they need to recruit more Black and other donors of color, especially as families become more diverse. “I think the demand is there,” said Mencias.