How to Buy and Sell Sperm

It's not like anyone grows up thinking, "Gee, someday I'll buy sperm and raise a beautiful family!" But for infertile couples and women who choose to raise a child without a male partner, a sperm bank is a tremendous resource. And for those gentlemen who want to take a hands-on approach to helping someone conceive--or just need the extra money--these tips will help the process go swimmingly.

Instructions

Difficulty: Moderate

Things You’ll Need:

• OB-GYN recomendaitons
• Donor profiles
• Semen samples
• Family medical history

Buy

1. Ask your OB-GYN for a sperm bank recommendation, or ask others who have been through the insemination process which bank they used.
2. Read the bank's Web site carefully. Examine its policies on anonymity, the donor screening process and genetic testing. If you have questions or concerns, give them a call.
3. Review the menu of fees. A wide range of services is available, from genetic testing to photo matching, shipping to storage, cord banking to sperm washing. Sperm samples themselves run from $100 to $250 depending on the processing involved. Washed sperm, for example, has the semen removed in preparation for an intrauterine insemination (IUI).
4. Start shopping: Review donor profiles and order complete medical history of those you're interested in.
5. Choose your guy, call the bank and order your sperm. Have it shipped directly to your doctor's office, or to your home if your partner or a midwife will be doing the honors.

Sell

6. Contact a reputable bank via e-mail or phone. They will conduct a brief interview, then ask you to come in.
7. Provide a sample for preliminary screening. It will be frozen, then thawed a week later to check for cryosurvival. Semen must meet minimum requirements for motility, morphology and sperm count. Most potential donors--up to 95 percent--are disqualified.
8. Complete more testing and give full medical history of your whole family, which is evaluated for potential birth defects or genetic conditions. After eight weeks to three months of testing, freezing and testing your sperm again, you are a fully qualified donor.
9. Bank the cash. Fees paid range from $35 per donation to $900 per month for three samples a week. Donors qualify for bonuses for successful referrals and when they exit the program.
10. Hands off: You are asked not to ejaculate for 48 hours prior to donating to ensure that your sperm count is high enough.

What to Look For:

• Good recommendations from customers
• Health care provider's recommendation
• Thorough donor screening
• Impeccable medical standards

Tips & Warnings

• Most banks guarantee complete anonymity of both donor and recipient. Some, such as Cryobank.com, have an openness policy whereby if the child at age 18 or older wants to know the identity of the donor--and the donor agrees--a meeting can be arranged. Still other banks, like RainbowFlag.com, disclose the identity of the donor by mutual consent when the child is 3 months old.
• Donors must commit to staying in the program for a minimum of nine months to a year due to the rigorous testing involved. Donors will be "retired" after a certain number of successful births, usually 10.