People get married for different reasons. While some seek
companionship in marriage, many go into marriage for procreation. For
couples who look forward to having children immediately after marriage,
being declared ‘infertile’ by experts is like a death sentence.
While
it is generally agreed that it takes two to have a baby and every
couple is expected to be in optimum health to have babies, medical
experts claim men are having more fertility challenge now. Sperm
concentration in men is said to have decreased by a third since 1990s
while sperm count is said to have decreased by half over the past 50
years.
Studies are also showing genetic abnormalities in sperm
particularly in older men. For men therefore, quantity, quality and
motility of spermatozoa are seen as important factors in fertility.
Since
the male factor is a prominent cause of infertility in couples, sperm
donation has become vital in assisted conception treatment.
A
study by the Society for the Study of Male Reproduction stated that “a
male factor is solely responsible in about 20 per cent of infertile
couples and contributory in another 30 to 40 per cent.”
According
to experts, even when sperm numbers are great, a high proportion of men
may have DNA damage that significantly impairs the chances of natural
conception. Besides, male sperm deteriorates with age the same way it
does for women.
Studies have also shown that if a man has poor
health, smokes, drinks too much or has a bad diet, it’s very likely his
sperms are also going to be unhealthy.
Indeed, investigation by
Saturday PUNCH showed that sperm has become a commodity in high demand
in Lagos. The Chief Consultant and Head, Obstetrician and Fertility
Department, Eko Hospitals, Dr. Adegbite Ogunmokun, said fertility
problem, based on recent experience, had tilted more towards the male
factor.
He said, “If 10 couples come in, there will be problem
with the male in six of them, using our parameter of 20 million sperm
per millimetre. But 10 to 15 years ago, maybe about four out of 10 men
would have problem.”
Our correspondents, who visited some
fertility centres in Lagos, learnt that more men are having low sperm
count, thus necessitating the need for more volunteer donors. But
because donors are scare, fertility clinics offer as much as N50,000 to
men who are interested in selling their sperm.
They also pay more when sellers have special features that the beneficiaries are looking for.
Like
blood sellers, investigations show that many people in Lagos,
especially students, now sell their sperms anytime they need money.
A
student of the University of Lagos, who identified himself as John,
said he had sold sperm to a few fertility centres in Lagos. John said he
had been funding his education for the past two years with what he
earned from selling his sperm.
John said he was introduced to the programme by a friend and that he had in turn brought in two other friends to ‘business’.
“I’ve
sold to a number of fertility centres. The money has really helped me
to stay in school. It takes care of my tuition and some other personal
needs,” John said, with a measure of satisfaction.
“It’s cool
money, really and I’m also doing a service to mankind by helping out
some people in need. Even friends that I introduced to it have not
turned back since then.”
An employee in a Lagos fertility clinic,
who identified himself as Olufunsho, told Saturday PUNCH that some women
would pay any amount to get a sperm seller with the features they want.
He
said, “We pay N50,000 here but there are times when women come in and
request that, at all cost, they must get a tall man. The person can earn
more when they make such requests, especially if we don’t have any that
fits the profile in our bank.
“There was a time a woman came and
requested that we get a tall man for her at all cost. I showed her the
samples we had, but she did not like the profile. She said she was not
satisfied with the heights. And we were unable to get what she wanted
from the sellers that came at the time.
“The sellers that came
then were either AS, or positive with hepatitis B or had low sperm
count. We had up to twelve sellers that came and we were unable to get
anybody. In such cases, we could offer a lot more when we find the right
person. Sometimes, such people are also in a position to negotiate for
what they want.”
However, subsequent drops attract lesser amounts of money for the same seller.
To
sell sperm, the person, according to Olufunsho, must stay off sex for
five days. He undergoes some tests to confirm that he is not HIV
positive and that he also has healthy sperm among others.
He said,
“If the same person is still interested and we still need him, he would
repeat the screening process again. We pay N10, 000 per ejaculation for
other subsequent ones. With my own discretion, if the quality of the
sperm is good and we have somebody who needs something that matches
perfectly with that seller, we may reduce the probation period, but the
sperm must be very good.
“Although that is the protocol, it could
always be amended when there is nothing wrong with the person. Even if
someone ejaculates the first time and in twenty minutes time, he does
the same, it is still going to be good, but not as good as the first
one.”
At the various fertility centres where our correspondents
posed as potential sperm seller, the clinic workers made keen attempts
to have them start the process immediately, by leaving blood samples for
tests.
On one occasion, a clinic worker told one of our
correspondents that he was willing to waive the two to five days’
probation period of abstinence, after our correspondent said he wished
to “sleep over it.”
The worker said, “What is there to think
about? After all, you already said you’re not married. You can leave
your blood sample for testing while you go ahead and think over it.”
Investigation
showed that fertility centres want sellers between 18 and 45 years of
age and expect them to abstain from sex, two to five days before giving
sperm sample, depending on the centre.
Other conditions to be met
by potential sperm sellers include testing negative to HIV, syphilis,
hepatitis B and C, sickle cell and some other sexually transmitted
diseases. Tests are also carried out to determine the count, morphology
(shape) and motility of the sperm cells.
In addition, fertility
centres claim to also place a high premium on average intelligence,
education and lifestyle. Although, Saturday PUNCH learnt that such
claims are not always true as more emphases are actually placed on
height and other physical attributes.
“It is not immediately that
we pay. We prefer AA genotype because it can be given to anybody, unlike
AS that cannot be given to just anybody,” Olufunsho added.
However,
an employee in another fertility clinic in Lagos, Akin, said sperm
sellers could get paid within a week of starting the process. This is
possible only if they satisfy the conditions.
He said, “If the
motility is good, the count is good and you’re okay, then, you can
produce for us. If everything is okay, within a week, you can get your
money.”
A 2012 study into the reproductive health of 26,600 men in
France, warned of a sperm crisis worldwide. It said that sperm
concentration has decreased by a third since the 1990s. The study found a
continuous 32.2 per cent decrease in sperm concentration over a period
of 17 years.
During the European Society of Human Reproduction and
Embryology annual conference in London in July 2013, some experts,
critical of the study’s validity, said it did not completely represent
the situation in certain areas, particularly the developing world.
However,
a fertility expert at Mother’s World Care, Ikeja, Lagos, Dr. Margaret
Olusegun, said the situation is similar in Nigeria.
She said, “A
man should have a good count, up to 40 to 50 million sperm per
millimetre of semen upward. But you find that these days, men have more
challenges with fertility than women.
“Although, I don’t have the
statistics, men are the ones with more challenges now, even though they
are the ones who drive out their wives if they can’t bear children.
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