The California senate has approved a bill that would allow HIV-positive men to undergo sperm washing and use their sperm for artificial insemination and in vitro fertilization.

Until now, California had banned positive men from donating sperm.

Almost 4,000 HIV negative babies have been conceived in the U.S. using sperm washing techniques. Although there have been no known cases of women becoming infected through sperm that has been washed, many fertility clinics still hesitate to take on HIV-positive men as patients.