Sperm Donor Now Has 14 Children, FDA Orders Him to Stop Donating
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has ordered a California man to stop donating sperm for free via his website after learning that he already fathered 14 children. But Trent Arsenault, 36, of Fremont continues to give his sperm until the court tells him to stop doing so.
The FDA has asked the court to stop Arsenault's free sperm donation service started in 2006 and ordered Arsenault in November 2010 to stop distributing sperm donations on grounds that he does not comply with federal regulations requiring donors to be tested for communicable diseases. He had distributed 328 donations of semen to 46 women when the FDA order was issued, according to CBS News.
In October, local police delivered a letter to Arsenault warning he would be fined up to $100,000 and imprisoned for a year if he engages in sperm donation activities, including storing of sperm.
Arsenault has argued that he is just helping childless couple to bear children minus the cost inherent in the use of services by a sperm bank. "It is helping people in need," Arsenault says. "I don't make any money, I don't charge people anything," he said, according to KTSM.com.
He also argued that the FDA cannot regulate him because his sperm donation is for persons to whom he has a personal relationship with.
In his website, trentdonor.org, Arsenault provides his personal data, photos and links to his medical records.