Diverse Sperm Shortage Causes Dilemma for Some Black Women

The pandemic helped expose an issue for some women of color using sperm banks: Finding donors who share their background.

CBS News looked into California Cryobank, Fairfax Cryobank, Seattle Sperm Bank and Xytex, considered the four major U.S. cryo-banks, and found that 53% of the available sperm is from White donors — while less than 4% is from Black donors. {snip}

This leaves many women like Jamila Galloway with a choice between having a child that doesn’t reflect their own race and culture or not having a baby at all.

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“It almost felt like I was having a bit of my decision taken away from me,” she said.

Dr. Tia Jackson-Bey, a fertility doctor in New York City, said every patient of color at her practice has experienced the struggle of finding a sperm donor who shares their background.

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Most cryobanks require three generations of medical family history, which not all Black Americans have access to. As a result, many Black women across the country, like Angela Stepancic, eventually give up on finding Black donors altogether.

Stepancic, who describes herself as half-Black and half-Croatian, welcomed a multi-racial baby girl last year with her wife via sperm donor.

Initially, having a Black baby was non-negotiable for Angela Stepancic when she began the process. However, she later realized that it was a concession she had to make in order to have a baby.

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But her experience has inspired her to make a change to prevent anyone from having to go through the same struggle. This fall, she plans to open the first Black-owned cryobank in the country that will give Black women “warmth, safety and options.”

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The number of Hispanic donors is also low, with only 8% of sperm donors to the four largest cryobanks being of Hispanic descent.

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