Fertility clinic offers to save soldiers' sperm for free

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CLEARWATER - Many residents and businesses are doing what they can to support our troops. A fertility clinic in Clearwater has made a unique offer to military members, and at least one local couple said 'yes.'

Petty Officer 2nd Class Jason Morena has his bags packed and ready to go. He has been a part of the Coast Guard reserves for two years and has already been deployed twice: For six weeks after 9/11, and for seven months to Guantanamo Bay, Cuba.

The deployments are making it understandably difficult for Morena and his wife to have a baby.

"I'm quite a bit younger than my wife, so she's got the age factor," he explained.

When they heard about Florida Fertility Institute's offer to bank the sperm of military members for free, they jumped at the chance.

"Actually, it was his idea a long time ago, could we possibly do something like this. I said we could, but it's really expensive and I didn't think we could afford it," Lynda Morena said.

Dr. Edward Zbella came up with the plan after seeing Desert Storm vets come to him with infertility problems

"It was usually low sperm counts. They felt it was due to Agent Orange or some other chemicals that they may have been exposed to during the war," Dr. Zbella explained.

So banking sperm before deployment is kind of like genetic insurance.

"If he gets deployed again, I can continue to try while he's gone. Also, one of the reasons we didn't want to have to think about but is a reality anyway, is that if something happens to him, I can still try to get pregnant with his child," Lynda continued.

The offer is open to any military member living in Florida; servicemen do not have to be currently involved in the war with Iraq to qualify.

Sperm analysis and freezing normally runs upwards of $1,400.

For more information on the Florida Fertility Institute's program, visit their Web site.