Woman sues FDA over sperm donor regulation

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OAKLAND, Calif., July 9 (UPI) -- An Oakland, Calif., woman filed a lawsuit against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration concerning regulations preventing her using free sperm to get pregnant.

Government accountability group Cause of Action filed a lawsuit last week on behalf of the woman, who was not identified, against the FDA in federal court in San Francisco, the San Francisco Chronicle reported.

The woman, who is a lesbian, wanted to get pregnant using a friend's sperm to avoid paying for a fertility clinic or a sperm bank.

The FDA requires donors to undergo blood and urine tests within a week of a body-tissue transfer -- something the woman sees as invasive, time consuming and unnecessary.

"If there are donors like this who are not charging as a service, and not serving as a business, the FDA should not be intervening," said Amber Abbasi, Cause of Action's chief counsel for regulatory affairs.