Infertile couples turn to sperm black market

Chinese couples who are infertile are turning to underground sperm markets where "donors" offer their sperm by injection via syringe or having unprotected sex with their customers, investigations show.

There are legal human sperm banks, but a supply shortage, rising fees and long waits drive couples to the underground market, where they can get sperm cheaper or even free, The Beijing News reported.

Although some sperm banks are raising cash rewards to attract more volunteers, some donors still prefer the black market so they can skip health checks, earn more money and have free sex, the newspaper said.

The market is booming, but medical experts and lawyers warn that it may put couples at risk of catching diseases from strangers and involvement in ethical and legal issues.

According to a Shanghai Daily investigation, a "self-service sperm donation" website has been started as sperm banks announced shortages. The website www.juanjing.net boasted it was China's first online charity sperm donation platform, where couples may get help.

According to the site, the procedure is simple: Couples log onto the website to search for donors and ask them for health reports. Then they negotiate and arrange to meet so the donors may inject the sperm with a syringe.

The couple may pay fees to the donors if the woman gets pregnant. If she doesn't, they would need to have the injection again. No contracts would be signed, said the website.

"But there's another way of sperm donation. A 'lucky' donor from Fujian Province had sex with a customer in Hangzhou in the absence of her husband and got paid 3,000 yuan," the website said.

On the site, many donors said they offer free sperm but some charge up to 5,000 yuan. The donors' online contacts are sorted by city. But many are seeking free sex with strangers by offering "direct sperm donation," reported The Beijing News.

A donor nicknamed "Gunner" said he had donated sperm to two women by having sex with them and got them pregnant. "I only want to have more offspring," he told the newspaper.

In Beijing, an infertile couple may have to pay 3,000 yuan to a sperm bank for collecting sperm and another 6,000 yuan for hospital charges. Couples may have to wait for one to two years, the newspaper said.

Chen Zhenwen, of the human sperm bank management team, said no laws yet regulate the black market despite the risks.