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Black American women who want to have children have to wait a long time for sperm donation from black men
Photo:
Rogelio V. Solis / AP
US sperm banks do not stock enough Black male sperm.
Less than two percent of donors are black, according to an analysis by the Washington Post.
Black women who need donor sperm are increasingly faced with a difficult choice: having to choose a father who is not black - and raising a child who may not be of the same skin color as her.
Or they try to buy semen in an unregulated app.
Demand increased sharply during the pandemic
US cryobanks, which store biological material such as stem cells and semen, recently reported that inquiries from Black women trying to conceive have surged during the pandemic.
But black sperm donors only represent a fraction of the available supply. New ampoules are sold out within minutes.
On average, semen sells for $950 to $1,300 per vial.
Donors receive $70 to $150 per donation.
To limit the number of children a man can father, sperm banks sell a fixed number of vials per donor.
There are more than 20 cryobanks in the country, four of which have more than 100 donors.
With these four, the offer fluctuates.
At the time of the Washington Post's research on Oct. 11, there were only 12 Black donors out of a total of 748. White and Asian donors were disproportionately represented, while donors with a Hispanic background were also underrepresented.
A cryobank website allows women to view profiles of available donors, often including their personal and genetic information.
18 months waiting period for black donor sperm
According to research by the Washington Post, the reasons for the shortage are varied.
Above all, the sperm banks have problems hiring black donors.
This is also due to the selection process, which requires three generations of medical history and excludes donors with criminal convictions.
This can be a problem for Black men who may not have access to quality health care.
At California Cryobank, the waiting time for a sought-after white donor is typically three months, according to Jaime Shamonki, the chief medical officer.
Women can wait up to 18 months for a black donor.
That's why some are now trying to find a suitable donor in other ways: in Facebook groups or apps like "Just a Baby".
The free app works similarly to dating apps Tinder and Bumble.
Users can swipe through profiles of people offering to be surrogates, egg donors, or sperm donors.
jpa
