The world's first donor sperm bank with HIV was created: why is it needed

The world's first HIV-positive sperm bank, called Sperm Positive, opened on Wednesday, November 27, in New Zealand. Its goal is to reduce the stigma surrounding people living with the virus. Writes about this with the BBC.

Фото: Depositphotos

The Bank's first donors were three New Zealand men living with the HIV virus but having an undetectable viral load. This means that the content of the virus in their blood is so small that it cannot be determined by standard methods. This condition is achieved with antiretroviral therapy. It is believed that a person with an undetectable viral load cannot transmit HIV to another person during childbirth or unprotected sex.

One of the donors, Damien Rule-Neal, has been living with HIV since 1999, but 18 years ago he officially became an HIV carrier with an undetectable burden. He has two children and three grandchildren. According to him, society does not understand what this status means. Damien Rul-Neil says that he, as an HIV-infected person, had to face rejection both at work and in his personal life.

“I have a lot of friends who live with HIV and have children,” he said. “It’s great that I can help others.” But I also want to show the world that life doesn’t end after a diagnosis and help fight social stigma.”

The bank was created on the initiative of a number of New Zealand public organizations, primarily for educational purposes.

Dr. Mark Thomas, a specialist in infectious diseases at Auckland University, says that over thirty years of his work, public attitudes towards HIV-infected people have changed a lot, but they still continue to suffer from stigma. Fear of rejection and discrimination, he said, harms the fight against the spread of the virus. Because of this fear, people are less likely to be tested, and HIV-infected people are less likely to seek help from doctors and sometimes take medications irregularly.

Another goal of the new sperm bank is to make it clear to people with HIV that they too can have children and use the services of organizations such as a sperm bank.

Sperm Positive will work like a regular sperm bank: recipients, if agreed, will be sent to local in vitro fertilization clinics.

HIV-infected patients can donate more than sperm. In March of 2019, in the USA, a kidney donated by an HIV-infected donor was transplanted to a patient.

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