Strict IVF restrictions to be eased in bid to lower rate of illegal at-home insemination among single women and same-sex couples



Expensive tests and other strict, emotionally-taxing procedures have for years stopped single women and same-sex couples from undergoing legal IVF treatment using the sperm of a friend.



But a new law being passed in California tomorrow will make fertility services more accessible for low-income women, who have often had contend with illegal at-home insemination when wanting to start a family through nontraditional means



Assemblywoman Nancy Skinner, who introduced the legislation, said: 'It removes a lot of barriers so women can become pregnant using the sperm of the donor of their choice .'

Helping hand: The law will help aspiring mothers like Maya Scott-Chung (right), who gave birth to a girl with her female partner, MeiBeck (left), eight years ago using a friend's sperm illegally, and now want to use legal means

The current law aims to protect women who do not have a traditional male partner from, for example, catching a sexually transmitted disease after attempting a DIY insemination using a friend's sperm and a turkey baster.



In a legally sanctioned medical clinic, under rules set up by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, a donor is required to either freeze and quarantine his sperm for screening, or have his blood and urine tested in a medical setting within a week of transferring his sperm to the woman.



But the new law aims to ease these frustrations of eager mothers-to-be like Maya Scott-Chung, who gave birth to a girl with her female partner, MeiBeck, eight years ago using a friend's sperm.



The couple had chosen Daniel Bao, a local, gay Chinese man originally from Argentina. He brought his sperm to her house in a glass jar, and MeiBeck injected its contents into Maya with a syringe.



In October 2004, at age 38, she gave birth at home to a daughter, Luna, a nd under federal law, this at-home insemination was illegal.



' Everyone who wants to have children should have the ability to do that '

Four years later, the Oakland couple wanted to use their friend's sperm once again to get pregnant, this time legally in a medical clinic, after multiple attempts at-home insemination failed.

However the FDA regulations effectively prohibited her from using Mr Bao's fresh sperm, because of the out-of-reach costs involved with health tests and freezing the sperm.



Maya, now 46, said: 'The thought of paying four to five thousand additional dollars to freeze and quarantine Daniel's sperm when he was right there, and especially since we'd had a baby with him ... it just didn't really make sense to us.'



Another Oakland woman, a lesbian who wants to conceive with a friend's sperm without paying for medical services, is arguing that the rules are expensive, bureaucratic and unconstitutional in a lawsuit she brought against the FDA last summer.

New hope: Eight years after the couple gave birth to their first child, Maya said she and her partner will once again have the possibility of growing their family under the new law

Trio family: The couple originally chose Daniel Bao, a gay Chinese man from Argentina, who brought his sperm to their house in a glass jar, and MeiBeck injected its contents into Maya with a syringe

Under the FDA law, if the sperm donor is a recipient's 'sexually intimate partner,' he is exempt from the mandatory tests for HIV, hepatitis B and C, and syphilis.



Until now, 'sexually intimate partner' has been used to apply to heterosexual couples in a relationship.



But the new law broadens the term to include a donor whom the recipient knows and whose sperm she has already used to try to conceive at home.



This means the Scott-Chungs' donor will need to be tested just once to give fresh sperm, as long as Maya signs a waiver. He can be tested multiple times, but only upon her request.



The bill , co-sponsored by Equality California and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, encountered little opposition, and was quickly passed through the state Legislature in September.



Dr. Mitchell Rosen, director of UCSF's Fertility Preservation Center said that same-sex couples such as the Scott-Chungs are now 'on the same playing field' as heterosexual couples with equal access to fertility services.



However they are also venerable to the same risks as heterosexual couples, who can pass on sexually transmitted diseases.



Dr Rosen said that if a sperm donor gets a disease after being tested, 'it's possible to contract a condition that the recipient would not know about.'



Eight years after she gave birth to her first child, Maya said as of tomorrow, she and her partner will once again have the possibility of growing their family.

