The Special Program of Assisted Reproduction (SPAR) is an international program designed to protect wives, surrogates and babies from becoming infected during fertility procedures that use sperm from men who wish to have children of their own, but are living with a sexually transmitted disease, such as HIV. Get started.
The program is based on research findings that some, but not all, of the semen specimens produced by men infected with HIV, Hepatitis B and C, and cytomegalovirus (CMV) will test positive for the infectious agent. SPAR scientists, headed up by Dr. Ann Kiessling, are pioneers in assisted reproductive technologies, and have been developing reliable semen testing procedures for 25 years. The laboratory methods are licensed by the Massachusetts Department of Public Health, certified by the U.S. government (CLIA) and registered with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (References).