Migden Introduces Legislation to Make it Safe for Women to Get Pregnant When Partner is HIV Positive

SACRAMENTO — Reproductive technology has evolved to the point that it can now cleanse sperm of the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) but current law prevents would-be parents, where the father is HIV positive, of taking advantage of these advances. In an attempt to lower the likelihood of HIV transmission during conception, State Senator Carole Migden has introduced SB 443 to allow couples to receive assisted reproduction under certain guidelines.

All families deserve access to the tools that reproductive science has to offer,” said Migden. “In this case California law needs to catch up with technology because, whether inadvertent or not, it discriminates against HIV-positive men. My legislation will ensure equal reproductive rights for all women, regardless of their partners’ HIV status.”

The problem begins with a California law that prohibits transferring or inseminating bodily tissue from a donor who is HIV positive. This law—which was created to protect patients receiving organ, tissue and sperm donations—has the unintended consequence of barring HIV-positive men from impregnating their partners, even though advanced reproductive technology has minimized infection risk to HIV-negative partners and offspring. California and Delaware are the only states in the nation that bar the procedure.

Meanwhile, many California couples legally forbidden from using advanced reproductive technology continue to risk transmitting HIV while attempting to conceive. In one Spanish study from Instituto de Reproduccion CEFER (Centro Medico TEKNON), in Barcelona, the seroconversion (infection) rate was 4.3 percent.

Specific methods for sperm washing substantially reduce the chance of HIV transmission. Studies in New York, Spain and Italy have yet to find an instance of transmission from donor to recipient when the newest methods are employed. According to University of California, San Francisco’s Dr. Deborah Cohan, there have been over 3,800 assisted reproductive procedures involving HIV-infected men and uninfected women without a single case of transmission.

I am thrilled at the prospect of being able to offer my patients a safe method of conceiving,” said Cohan, who serves as Medical Director of the Bay Area Perinatal AIDS Center. “With potent antiretroviral therapy now available, HIV-infected individuals live increasingly healthy and normal lives and many want to have families. With this important bill, w will be able to offer them a safe way of building healthy families.”

SB 443 would allow couples where the fathers are HIV positive to undergo assisted reproduction under the following guidelines:

1) The HIV-positive donor’s sperm is processed to minimize the infectiousness of the sperm for the specific donation;

2) Informed mutual consent has occurred; and

3) The sperm processing procedures must be recognized by the American Society of Reproductive Medicine.