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Posted on 01/31/2003 11:55:14 AM PST by MeekOneGOP
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Troops rush to bank sperm before heading to Persian Gulf 01/31/2003
By CHRISTINA ALMEIDA / The Associated Press LOS ANGELES — Fearful of powerful vaccines and exposure to biological weapons, American soldiers are taking an unusual precaution before heading to the Persian Gulf. They're freezing their sperm to protect their fertility. Sperm banks nationwide have reported an increase in the number of military clients as deployment orders rapidly increase. "It doesn't protect their life. It doesn't protect them from illness. But at least ... a man can beget a legal heir," said Dr. Cappy Rothman, co-director of California Cryobank. In January, 28 soldiers had their sperm frozen in liquid nitrogen at the company's three sperm banks in California and Massachusetts. That was a sharp increase from the firm's two military clients in 2001, and the 12 in 2002 that lab officials attributed to the deployment of troops to Afghanistan after Sept. 11. Labs elsewhere in the country also reported increased business. "It has really picked up in the last few weeks," said Brent Hazelrigg, program director for the Genetics and IVF Institute in Fairfax, Va. "We have men who are coming in and producing a specimen and then shipping out the next day." The firm's three sperm banks — in Austin, Texas, Virginia and Minnesota — saw a total of 12 soldiers in January. In all of 2002, the labs had seven military clients. Patrick Atwell, a 35-year-old mechanic from Central California and a member of the Army National Guard, saved his sperm at the urging of his fiancee, a nurse. "If I do come back, and I am sterile from what they exposed us to, it's really not a big thing now because we can have a baby," he said. Atwell's fiancee, Angela Cruz, 36, said the move was about "having a reminder of him, having another person carry his name, his being." "If something does happen to him, I will definitely be making a withdrawal from the bank," she said. Many of the soldiers are turning to the labs after hearing horror stories about the tactics of Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein and reports of fertility problems from veterans of the Gulf War. Military officials, however, said fears about vaccines are unfounded. "We just don't have any medical indication that there is something to be concerned about," said Dr. Michael Kilpatrick, deputy director of the military's office of deployment health support who served as an adviser during the military's investigation of Gulf War illnesses. A recent study by researchers at Duke University Medical Center found that rats exposed to three chemicals used to protect Gulf War soldiers from insect-borne diseases and nerve-gas poisoning suffered reduced sperm production. But military officials discounted the study, saying soldiers were not exposed to the three chemicals simultaneously or for an extended period of time. In addition, the study did not determine if the effects on the rats were temporary or long-term, Kilpatrick said. Soldiers routinely receive shots for the flu, diphtheria, tetanus and typhoid fever before shipping out. Depending on where they are being deployed, they may also receive vaccinations against smallpox and anthrax. Sperm banks are typically used by cancer patients and men about to undergo a vasectomy. The process involves obtaining sperm and freezing it in liquid nitrogen at about minus 320 degrees. The sperm can be stored indefinitely without any effect on its potency, experts said. First-time fees range up to $200 and the average annual storage cost is about $300. "We kind of look at it as fertility insurance," Hazelrigg said. "They know it's there. They know it's safe. It provides them peace of mind." ——— On the Net: Department of Defense Deployment Health Support, http://deploymentlink.osd.mil/ California Cryobank, http://cryobank.com/ Fairfax Cryobank, http://www.fairfaxcryobank.com/ Duke University Medical Center, http://www.mc.duke.edu/ (ap.state.online.tx 0917 01/31/2003 14:14:59 ) |
At the risk of significant flaming, I must say I disagree with the notion that if fiance is killed, she will simply have a baby to "carry his name." Children need a Mom AND a Dad. Now, if the banking of sperm is so that the couple can have a child upon the man's return should he somehow end up sterile, that's another story.
Not a big thing? This guy ahs got to be french.
Federal Reserve Bank
lol ! I almost put this in the comment when I posted the article, but changed my mind...
"Honey, I'll be back shortly. I have to go to the bank to make a deposit".....
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