The 36-Year-Old Virgin

Sperm donor who fathered 14 kids reveals he’s a 36-year-old virgin

Trent Arsenault of Fremont, Calif., has an unusual story. He’s never had sex but he’s the father of 14 kids (with more on the way). Huh? How is that possible? Read on…


Trent Arsenault told Anderson Cooper that he doesn't crave sex.
Rather Arsenault desires the act of donating sperm. (Anderson Cooper)
Trent Arsenault made national news when the U.S. Food and Drug Administration came after him last month for providing his sperm to childless couples for free through his site TrentDonor.org. The FDA “told him to stop giving away his sperm — or face a $100,000 fine or up to a year in prison — on the grounds that he’s ignoring federal regulations that require blood tests every time a person donates any kind of body tissue or fluid,” according to The San Francisco Chronicle. Until the case is settled, he’s permitted to continue giving away his sperm.

But that’s all old news. Today, the computer engineer who lives in Fremont, Calif., appeared on the Anderson Cooper talk show and revealed more of his provocative story: He’s a 36-year-old virgin. Turns out Arsenault has a sexual drive that makes him desire something different from actual sex.

“I coined this term ‘donor sexual’ and I’ll explain it means 100 percent of my sexual energy is for producing sperm for childless couples to have babies,” Arsenault said. “So I don’t have other activity outside of that.”

“So you do not have sex?” Mr. Cooper asked.

“I will probably be the 40-year-old virgin,” Arsenault explained. “Except I’ll have 15 plus kids.”

There’s plenty of proof floating around the Internet that the virgin dad views donating sperm as a sexual act. Videos of him “engaging in the sexual self-gratification that generates his sperm donations” have surfaced on porn sites, according to Yahoo News.

Arsenault told SF Weekly that he hoped the media would never find these videos. “Some people would call them porn videos,” he said. “I call it documenting the process of being a donorsexual.”

Arsenault explained on Anderson Cooper that the videos demonstrate what it means to be a “donor sexual.” He never knows what to tell people when they ask him whether he’s gay or heterosexual and these videos help explain his sexual orientation.

While he prepares to fight a legal battle with the FDA, Arsenault is continuing to donate his sperm. Since his story started making headlines last month he has heard from people all over the world who want them. But he told the Weekly that he’s turning down the requests from Japan, Malaysia and France and only offering his seed to people who live in the California Bay Area.

A Bay Area family who used Arsenault’s sperm donation site appeared on Anderson Cooper with their daughter. Lesbian couple Kristi and Traci tried using a certified sperm bank but only faced failure. Out of desperation they turned to the Internet where they came across Arsenault’s site. They liked that he was an open book about his family and mecial history, posting all information and records online.

When Traci and Kristi’s daughter came out on stage, the sperm-donor dad got choked up. “I’m just extremely happy that she’s healthy and in a loving home,” he said. “I hope she has the gene of compassion and that her parents nurture her.”

Will the FDA eventually shut Arsenault’s operation down?

Arsenault’s lawyer Amber Taylor thinks her client has a chance because she believes the government is inappropriately applying rules to Arsenault that are meant for sperm banks. “Trent is not a sperm bank, Trent is not a small medical practice,” Taylor told Anderson Cooper. “Trent is an individual.”

“So if Trent was having intercourse with all these different women and they were getting pregnant, the FDA wouldn’t have anything to say about that,” Anderson asked. “It’s because he’s giving it away in the way that he is?”

“Correct,” Taylor said.

What do you think about Arsenault’s story? Are you struck by his altruism or turned off by his “donor sexual” orientation?