Podcast Review: Beyond Black History Month – How a shortage of black sperm donors hurts lesbian and queer families

Beyond Black History Month is a podcast that aims to provide nuanced conversations about race and inequality in the USA.

This episode focused on the limited availability of black sperm donors in America. The host, Femi Redwood, speaks to experts about this topic and interviews a black woman in a same-sex relationship about her experiences of becoming a mother.

Though this podcast is focused on the USA, I think it's still relevant to those of us who live in the UK. According to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), just two percent of sperm donors are black despite making up four percent of the UK population. This suggests we are facing similar issues when it comes to the availability of black sperm donors.

At the beginning of the podcast, Redwood mentions that only three to five percent of sperm donors in the USA are black. To learn more about this issue and the impact it has on patients, she interviews Alyse Mencias, the clinic manager of the Seattle Sperm Bank. Mencias confirmed that some patients must wait 18 months to be matched with a black donor, around five times longer than those seeking a white donor. Redwood points out that this issue affects lesbian and queer families the most, as they are the biggest sperm bank customers. In my opinion, these wait times are far too long. Female fertility is of course age-dependent, and the longer someone must wait to find a donor, the harder it could be for them to conceive.

Redwood also spoke to Michael Thomas, a professor and department chair of obstetrics and gynecology at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio and the former chair of the ASRM's diversity, equity, and inclusion task force. Professor Thomas says the reason why black men are less likely to donate is due to a distrust of the medical industry within the African American community.

Much of the podcast focuses on the experiences of Madoshay and Yvette, a black same-sex couple, on their path to motherhood. After unsuccessful pregnancy attempts with a known donor, and a diagnosis of polycystic ovary syndrome, Madoshay relates how they decided to try a more medicalised approach to conception and turned to IVF. Unfortunately, very few black sperm donors were available at the sperm banks they looked at, and none were genetically compatible with her.

After being unable to find a suitable black donor, the couple decided to consider non-black donors. Thankfully, the pair found a donor that was a good match, and after a successful round of IVF they now have a healthy baby boy.

Madoshay describes her apprehension at opening their search to donors who weren't black. There were numerous reasons for this, including:

• Wanting her child to look like her.
• Wanting her child to be culturally connected to her.
• Wanting her child to reflect the family she was raised in.
• Concern that someone would accuse her of trying to have a 'light skinned, designer baby'.
• Concern that she would be taking a donor from another woman of colour.

I think Madoshay's feelings are completely valid, and I feel badly for her and Yvette that they were unable to find a donor that could fully fulfil their needs. There are many stressors involved with IVF and it's unfair they had to experience this additional upset.

One topic that Madoshay brought up that I feel is particularly interesting is the idea of white couples choosing sperm donors of a different ethnicity to them. Redwood described this phenomenon as the 'fetishisation of mixed children', which she says is very apparent in some donor groups. Madoshay expressed her frustration that this would stop black people from being able to find a donor that looks like them.

I'm not sure it's fair to suggest that people who choose a donor that is a different ethnicity to themselves are doing so to 'fetishise mixed children'. In my previous review for BioNews, I listened to the podcast If These Ovaries Could Talk where same-sex couple Jenni and Lauren were interviewed about their experiences of fertility treatment (see BioNews 1165). They are white and had chosen a non-white donor for treatment. There were a few reasons for this, with a primary one being that they didn't want their child to be a white male. Another reason was that all the donors that were genetically compatible with them were non-white.

In my opinion, people should have the right to choose whichever donor they like, regardless of whether they have the same ethnic background. Having said this, I can completely sympathise with people from ethnic minorities who are struggling to find a suitable sperm donor. It must feel very frustrating to have to wait a long time to be matched with a donor, while people of other ethnicities are able to select one right away.

Clearly there is a demand for more donors from ethnic minorities. Redwood asked Dr Thomas and Mencias about how more black men could be encouraged to donate. Dr Thomas suggested that donor banks should advertise in locations where black men are likely to be, such as barber shops, to increase donor applications. Mencias said that as a society we need to remove the stigma around sperm donation by speaking openly about it. She hopes that one day sperm donation will become like any other tissue donation.

In my opinion, sperm donation should not become like any other tissue donation. Sperm donation creates children and it's important for donors to realise the significance of this. However, I agree with Mencias that removing the stigma around sperm donation will help to create more donors which will be beneficial to people from all ethnic backgrounds.

Overall, I think the topics and themes discussed in this podcast were very interesting. Although I didn't completely agree with all the opinions shared, I certainly think that there is a demand for more ethnically diverse sperm donors (see BioNews 1170). The fertility industry should put resources into trying to understand why certain groups are less likely to donate and create strategies to remove the social stigma surrounding donation. This will hopefully increase the diversity of donors that are available and improve patient experiences.

The PET Annual Conference – 'Making Fertility Treatment Fair: Equality in Access, Equality in Outcome?', taking place online this coming Wednesday (7 December 2022) – will explore equality and fairness in the context of fertility treatment, and ask how barriers to treatment might be overcome.

Find out more and register here.