College students and sperm donors
College students comprise 90 percent of American sperm donors. Why? They’re smart, cute and virile — everything a would-be mom wants.
Jeff Salkin was struggling to pay his bills when he saw an ad that seemed too good to be true: a clinic would pay him to masturbate.
“I was having a hard time coming up with enough money for food and rent. I found out selling sperm is pretty easy, and at 40 bucks a whack, it’s pretty lucrative too,” said the University of Oregon senior, whose name was changed to protect his privacy.
Salkin is one of thousands of college students nationwide who cover their expenses by selling DNA. Commercial sperm banks, which exploded in the early 1970s and now number more than 150, have clustered around universities where the “natural resources” are plentiful: intelligent people who need quick cash and have sperm to spare. By 1993, frozen sperm was a $164 million a year industry, and companies like California Cryobank were aggressively recruiting on the campuses of brand-name schools like Harvard, MIT, Stanford and the University of California at Berkeley.
“At least 90 percent of our donors are college students,” said Melonee Evans, California Cryobank’s client relations manager. “Students are more eager to donate because they need the money and have more flexible schedules.”
Those who can make the time and the maximum donation, which usually means siring up to 10 children can net upward of $6,000 in one academic year.
“Most students do it because they really need the money,” said Geo Low, an employee at Berkeley, Calif.’s Reproductive Technologies, Inc. “And some think their genes are cool and want to spread them around.” According to Low about 15 students make “deposits” to her bank on an average day.
Students at top schools say they can hardly walk across campus without finding ads soliciting donations from the young, brainy and virile.
“Everywhere you look there’s an ad for sperm donors,” Harvard sophomore Owen Breck said. “Our sperm has good SAT scores.”
Students at prestigious colleges are highly coveted sperm bank donors because they please picky customers. California Cryobank only accepts donors who attend or have graduated from a “major four-year university.” Donors must also be tall, trim, heterosexual, between 19 and 34 years old, and able to provide flawless medical and genetic histories of their families. The five percent of applicants who make the cut are well rewarded: The SpermBrokerage, another major sperm bank chain, pays donors $100 per visit, plus a $1,000 bonus for every six months they stick with the program.
Just six years ago, the average payment for a single sperm donation was $30. But as baby boomers reach middle age and decide to start families, and as single career women decide they want children but not husbands, the demand for top-quality sperm has far outpaced the supply. In 1997 about 250,000 babies were conceived from anonymous sperm donations, even though a single sperm sample (about 10 samples can be divided from one donation) sells for $200.
“It’s a very lucrative industry,” Evans said.
One University of Wisconsin junior who studies computer science and is an All-American athlete says his donations to SpermBrokerage keep him enrolled in school.
“My friends suggested it as a joke but I was considering it even before they said anything,” the donor said. “Since the NCAA doesn’t allow me to hold a job during the school year, this was one of the few ways I could actually make money to support myself while school’s in session.”
Since many college men are uncomfortable when they first begin making sperm donations, sperm bank staff members (usually female) work to create calming and sexy environments featuring private rooms, dim lighting, plush chairs, porn magazines and X-rated videos.
“To [the donors] the idea of masturbating for money is a little weird at first,” Low said. “To masturbate in a strange place, pornography is kind of necessary.”
This is especially true after the grueling tests donors must constantly undergo. In the eight weeks before a California Cryobank donor can begin making deposits, he must have a full blood workup and must complete genetic counseling and mounds of paperwork. “Even the physical is intense we check every orifice,” Evans said proudly.
Sperm bank representatives say they must be so selective because customers are so demanding. “Everyone wants something different, but most want a donor who is over six feet, has blond hair and blue eyes, and is majoring in the sciences,” Evans said.
Some consider the idea of making designer babies made from Ivy League sperm elitist. Shortly after California Cyrobank opened its Cambridge office, The New Republic called the chain “one of the more blatantly elitist sperm buyers” in the country.
“Smarts and looks are just very important to [clients],” said Low, who explained that Reproductive Technologies moved from Oakland, Calif. to nearby Berkeley to be closer to that nationally-renowned university’s smart set.
But while some banks like the Repository of Germinal Choice in Escondido, Calif., which for a time accepted only sperm from Nobel Prize winners exclude all but the “best” sperm, others, like CryoGam Colorado, Inc., consider such careful selection ethically questionable. “We’re not involved in eugenics or anything like that,” said CryoGam director Betsy Cairo.
While ethical debates rage, increasing numbers of students turn to sperm banks for extra cash even after they finish school (though the average age of a donor remains about 21).
“I started after I graduated I needed to pay off my student loans and it seemed like a good way to supplement my income,” said a recent Northwestern M.B.A. grad. “The money actually helped me start my own business.”
For now, Salkin has found another source of income, but he says he’d go back to being a donor if money gets tight. “When someone offers you $40 for a little sperm, it’s hard to turn down a job offer like that.”
* Discussion: Would You Donate Sperm?
Image courtesy Marbella
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Yes. I would donate sperm.
I want to know where this information was gathered and a follow up on this article. 250,000 babies from donor sperm in 2007 is a very interesting statistic to me.
The raise in donor pay is also interesting. What factors caused it exactly? Are there factors beyond the ones eluded to here?
I am currently a donor. Gave my first money shot a few weeks ago.
I happen to be a science major and over 6ft.
I need the money.
Steven,the 250,000 static that was mentioned is from 1997. I can only imagine that in the last 10 yrs, this number has gone up significantly. However, this information seems to come out only once in a while as i did not see anything else besides the 250,000.
If you want to see more money through sperm donation, the first place i wud suggest u look at is your nearest Cryobank center. I have TMobile as my cell phone carrier, and a simple 411 call to them, they gave me the nearest Cryobank center. I think a simple google search would be enough for you
i love to jack off, so i guess it wold be pretty sweet if someone paid me to do it… i masterbate about 4 times a day and i want to know where i can sell it.. hit me back and let me know!!
I would never donate. I don’t want kids, but I respect the rights of other people to have them. I’ve read that the average sperm donor has 26 children, and that the very most popular have almost 100.
I think it is a fascinating industry, but I am very concerned about the children of sperm donors finding fathers that don’t want to be found, creating complicating situations for donors that have gone on to get married and have children they know. Laying claim to the assets of the sperm donor, in the event of death, or suing for child support is disconcerting, too: after all, would-be moms are looking for the best and the brightest, and it stands to reason that many of these sperm donors will go on and do well for themselves. Until we can unconditionally guarantee privacy it just seems too scary to me.
Is there any places to donate sperm in Wisconisn
Ya this sound justified and best. I dream to be in usa, all dreams to be they are rich they can pay and both can benefit thats good being direct rather than one way. Its best.
Dear Sir/ Madam
I am aware of some parts but still i want to know other places of usa where i can earn by money by donating sperm. Would anybody let me know in depth. All are intrested infact many are and i got many colleges are providing incentives to students either that i was aware long time before too. Would you let me know some more colleges? I read this tip that from MBA student to Phd r donating and they get paid thats good too cause government can still earn enough and students can also get their future its benefit for both when both gets. I seriously support it. There are too many reasons to support it
Sincerely rajeev
I wanna donate sperm for money for cash only. Would anybody put me through?
is there anywhere to donate sperm in Missouri?
USA and Canada the Maximum Childen by gamete donation is 25
and the Uk is 10….
So where you’re getting your numbers are wrong
I personally like to make my sperm donations in person and collect the payment upfront.
plz can u direct to those people coz l want that cash
how much money can i get if i donate sperms weekly
i want to sell my sperm
wow you’ll have so many babies o.o
hi i’m a college student in florida and im trying to fix my car plus paying college and helping my family out im going for a degree in culinary science and im part of the honors society plus going to be part of the acf top chef association please help me pay my bills and i will help you to have a blessing!…
i would like to meet a clean donor that i can have high level sperm.i pay $1000if it s good enouhg…
am ready to donate mine coz i keep on wasting them each time i masturbate. pliz get back to me
hello please can u help me to know any place were l can donate it in uganda /can u plz open up a centre in uganda thanks
Maan I wish they paid money for sperms in Canada lol, cos I could really use some jack off money right now haha.
hey iam adi iam virgin and iam from hyderabad ,i would like 2 donate my sperms and i think its not a crime bcoz the women who wants 2 bcome mother they really need sperm so i think its not a crime its is help means helping some other person who r in problem and i don’t hav any side effects iam ready for any treatment but one thing iam selling this for money bcoz i hav financial problem
hi iam srikanth from hyderabad, india. i wd like sell my sperm for money.
pls. give me adress and details of hyd sperm buying centers. pls call me @
91- 9703629759