A local Jane Doe is suing the Food and Drug Administration over regulations she claims are unnecessary and unconstitutional in the way they seek to regulate her chosen method of getting pregnant. Specifically, she and her partner would like to get knocked up using some manseed donated by a charitable fellow without having to go through the "costly and burdensome" process of using a sperm bank.

As it stands, federal regulations require any sort of tissue donor, genetic material included, to be screened for health issues. HIV, Hepatitis and syphilis screenings all make sense for someone donating sperm, but should the recipient try multiple times to get pregnant — that could mean expensive weekly tests and exams for the donor.

For those wondering why our Jane Doe hasn't just circumvented the FDA by carrying out the (ahem) procedure at home behind closed doors — the litigation is being brought to a U.S. District court in Northern California by Cause of Action, a government accountability advocacy group seeking to ease the restrictions on sperm donors who are not charging for their services. According to Cause of Action's lawsuit, the FDA has no businesses regulating "noncommercial, sexually intimate choices and activity" regardless of the risk of transmitted diseases. (And, duh, the FDA isn't regulating every other potential sperm donation that happens between consenting folks.) Meanwhile, there's already legislation in the State Assembly that would allow donors to simplify the screening process. If the legislation passes, the donor would only need to be tested once, assuming the recipient signs off on the proper paperwork.

In late 2011, prolific sperm donor and amateur porn star Trent Arsenault also came under fire from the FDA, which threatened to slap him with a $100,000 fine if he didn't quit churning out unregulated gifts of human genetic material. Arsenault couldn't care less, apparently, he says seven women are currently pregnant with his sperm.

Previously: FDA Decides Fremont Man Is A Sperm Factory, all Trent Arsenault coverage on SFist
[Chron]