Gay cancer patient devastated to learn he can ‘only donate sperm to female partner’

A gay man, diagnosed with terminal cancer, was shocked he can only donate sperm to a female partner.

This is due a piece of ‘out dated’ legislation in New Zealand.

Logan Morton, 22, was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia in 2017.

Upon learning of the disease, he chose to store his sperm due to a risk of infertility.

This was due to treatment with private company Fertility Associates.

Morton, suffering from a high level of pain, asked nurses to fill out required paperwork.

He was ‘mortified’ when he noticed he only had the option of donating to a female partner.

Despite being supported by long-term partner Jeremy Young, Morton found out his sperm would be destroyed.

His sperm being destroyed was an alternative if he chose not to donate to a woman.

Mr Morton hopes his case will lead to widespread changes in fertility legislation in New Zealand (Picture Facebook/Logan Morton)

According to Stuff, Dr Mary Birdsall pledged to change Fertility Associates’ policy after she was alerted to Mr Morton’s case.

She stated when the Human Assisted Reproductive Technology (HART) Act 2000 was formed, it was done so without gay men in mind.

‘We really feel terrible that Logan was offended because we see ourselves as being an organization that works really hard to meet all of our clients’ needs,’ said Dr Birdsall.

‘It’s just that society is becoming more complicated in terms of reproductive options that are available and we just need to move with the times.’

Why is legislation for cancer patients so outdated?

The legislation provided for sperm to be ‘available for use only by a specified person within a specified time frame’.

Fertility Associates assumed ‘only a woman could use sperm to make a baby’.

Morton said the experience was offensive, especially at a time when he was suffering from chronic pain and highlighted how out of date the legislation was.

‘Whether I would have chosen to write my partner’s name in there or not I’m not sure, we would have had that discussion, it was the fact that I couldn’t and I’m sure there are other people in the situation who would very much like to who are unable to,’ he said.

Dr Birdsall stated, after the company sought legal advice, the form would be changed to offer a potential alternative if the ‘female partner’ option does not apply.

Gay Star News has contacted Mr Morgan for further comment.

Read more from Source: Gay cancer patient devastated to learn he can ‘only donate sperm to female partner’

Share

About Gay Today

Editor of Gay Today