Sperm Banks

Sperm Banks Approximately five thousand births a year are the product of donor children in the United States. There are fifteen sperm banks in the United States and close to fifteen hundred donors. Sperm banks allow millions of couples to start a family, but should not be allowed due to the number of problems they can cause. Genetic defects, unknown relative production, lack of diversity in the breeding pool, psychological issues within the family, and cost are some of the main problems that arise. Genetic defects are the biggest problem when it comes to sperm banks. The screening process that a donor must go through is intentionally designed to be rigorous and exclude any donor that does not meet the high standards. Surprisingly, only one percent of donors are actually accepted nationally. The screening process involves a health questionnaire, physical exam, medical and infectious disease testing, a thorough sperm quality evaluation, and several in-person interviews with staff at the sperm bank. Repeated physical exams and disease testing are ongoing while the donors are active, which means that the donors must maintain a healthy diet and stay active. Although the sperm bank goes through the screening process, they fail to test for genetic diseases because of the cost. A donor will be asked about any genetic diseases, but to save three hundred dollars, a donor will not be tested for genetic diseases. This is a problem because a child that is born could wind up with a heart problem that was not mentioned in the donor’s profile. If a couple has no warning that there is a genetic defect, they could be very upset due to the suffering and the cost of medical bills. Sperm banks overall could just charge more money for a couple to go through the process and spend the three hundred dollars to have the sperm sample go through the genetic defect testing, to save the heartache of couples that have no idea their child will have a medical problem. Sperm banks create a

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