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CNN Live At Daybreak
A Few Soldiers Going to Sperm Bank
Aired January 30, 2003 - 05:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Just a few minutes ago, I told you about some of the U.S. troops being deployed for possible action in the Persian Gulf.
Our Frank Buckley tells us a few soldiers are taking steps beyond the normal ones. They're going to the sperm bank.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Deploying troops have always squared away their wills and other legal affairs before going into harm's way. But now a small number of soldiers are also doing this, saving their sperm. Among the sperm frozen in this tank in Los Angeles, the potential progeny of Patrick Atwell.
SGT. PATRICK ATWELL, ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: You may never use your deposit, but it's always good to have that option there.
BUCKLEY: Sergeant Atwell is an Army National Guardsman who expects to deploy to the Gulf. His fiancee, Angela Cruz, urged Atwell to preserve his sperm after a 1991 Gulf War veteran in his unit told the sergeant he came back from Desert Storm to find he was sterile.
ANGELA CRUZ, ATWELL'S FIANCEE: I feel more hopeful with our future and if, god forbid, he doesn't come back, then I'll be able to have a piece of him here still, a little Patrick running around.
BUCKLEY: Atwell believes the military should include information about sperm storage in pre-deployment preparations.
ATWELL: They prepare for your death, but what they don't prepare for is your life after you've been, after you've done your service and perhaps you've been exposed.
BUCKLEY: But a Department of Defense official told CNN that, "Based on what we know from the Gulf War, there are no medical indications that infertility should be a concern of deploying service members. In fact, studies of Gulf War veterans' health have shown that male Gulf War veterans had a higher rate of birth compared to those who did not deploy."
But some Gulf War veterans do blame sexual dysfunction and fertility problems on their service in Desert Storm. And a Duke University Medical Center study released just this month concluded that a combination of the insect repellant DEET, an insecticide, and an anti-nerve gas agent that was used in Desert Storm caused extensive cell degeneration and cell death in the testes of laboratory rats. The study's author saying that the combination in 1991 may have inadvertently damaged testes and sperm production in some soldiers and may explain why some veterans experienced infertility, sexual dysfunction and other symptoms.
The medical director of California Cryobank, where Atwell's sperm is stored, says the potential risks involved in any conflict should at least cause soldiers to consider saving their sperm.
DR. CAPPY ROTHMAN, CALIFORNIA CRYOBANK: It's an insurance policy. If anybody could tell these soldiers honestly, you don't have to store this sperm because there's nothing bad that's going to happen to you, then I'll say OK. But I don't know who could ever say something like that.
BUCKLEY (on camera): A spokesman for the Department of Defense says the Pentagon neither encourages nor discourages soldiers from doing this. And for now it appears to be a very small percentage of the tens of thousands of servicemen who are deploying who are taking this option. At the California Cryobank, for example, they say 30 men have made deposits.
Frank Buckley, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
Aired January 30, 2003 - 05:24 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Just a few minutes ago, I told you about some of the U.S. troops being deployed for possible action in the Persian Gulf.
Our Frank Buckley tells us a few soldiers are taking steps beyond the normal ones. They're going to the sperm bank.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
FRANK BUCKLEY, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): Deploying troops have always squared away their wills and other legal affairs before going into harm's way. But now a small number of soldiers are also doing this, saving their sperm. Among the sperm frozen in this tank in Los Angeles, the potential progeny of Patrick Atwell.
SGT. PATRICK ATWELL, ARMY NATIONAL GUARD: You may never use your deposit, but it's always good to have that option there.
BUCKLEY: Sergeant Atwell is an Army National Guardsman who expects to deploy to the Gulf. His fiancee, Angela Cruz, urged Atwell to preserve his sperm after a 1991 Gulf War veteran in his unit told the sergeant he came back from Desert Storm to find he was sterile.
ANGELA CRUZ, ATWELL'S FIANCEE: I feel more hopeful with our future and if, god forbid, he doesn't come back, then I'll be able to have a piece of him here still, a little Patrick running around.
BUCKLEY: Atwell believes the military should include information about sperm storage in pre-deployment preparations.
ATWELL: They prepare for your death, but what they don't prepare for is your life after you've been, after you've done your service and perhaps you've been exposed.
BUCKLEY: But a Department of Defense official told CNN that, "Based on what we know from the Gulf War, there are no medical indications that infertility should be a concern of deploying service members. In fact, studies of Gulf War veterans' health have shown that male Gulf War veterans had a higher rate of birth compared to those who did not deploy."
But some Gulf War veterans do blame sexual dysfunction and fertility problems on their service in Desert Storm. And a Duke University Medical Center study released just this month concluded that a combination of the insect repellant DEET, an insecticide, and an anti-nerve gas agent that was used in Desert Storm caused extensive cell degeneration and cell death in the testes of laboratory rats. The study's author saying that the combination in 1991 may have inadvertently damaged testes and sperm production in some soldiers and may explain why some veterans experienced infertility, sexual dysfunction and other symptoms.
The medical director of California Cryobank, where Atwell's sperm is stored, says the potential risks involved in any conflict should at least cause soldiers to consider saving their sperm.
DR. CAPPY ROTHMAN, CALIFORNIA CRYOBANK: It's an insurance policy. If anybody could tell these soldiers honestly, you don't have to store this sperm because there's nothing bad that's going to happen to you, then I'll say OK. But I don't know who could ever say something like that.
BUCKLEY (on camera): A spokesman for the Department of Defense says the Pentagon neither encourages nor discourages soldiers from doing this. And for now it appears to be a very small percentage of the tens of thousands of servicemen who are deploying who are taking this option. At the California Cryobank, for example, they say 30 men have made deposits.
Frank Buckley, CNN, Los Angeles.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.fdch.com
