Woman offers $15,000 for Stanford student's sperm

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Woman offers $15,000 for Stanford student's sperm

San Jose Mercury News

PALO ALTO, Calif. -- Talk about pay equity: For years, women have been offered thousands of dollars for their ova, while men got $50 for their sperm. Now, a Burlingame, Calif., woman is offering $15,000 for what she sees as premium specimens: Sperm from a Stanford University student.

A tall, handsome, intelligent Stanford student, of course.

The woman, who wants to remain anonymous, says she has received about 30 inquiries since her ad ran in a California newspaper. Sperm bank workers are agog at the fee.

"That seems really excessive," said Eleanor Nicoll, public relations manager for the American Society for Reproductive Medicine, a professional organization. Sperm banks usually pay between $50 and $200 for each deposit.

The deal seems pretty sweet to some Stanford men.

Ben Martinez, a 20-year-old art major at Stanford, saw the classified ad and planned to call -- until he saw the requirement that the potential donor be over 6 feet tall. Martinez is 5-feet-71/2.

"I'd use that money to buy a car," he said, figuring he'd have enough left for a guitar, too.

Nathan Hines, an aerospace engineer, wondered why the woman would go through all the fuss. Donations needn't be hard to obtain. "Why not take the guy on a date or something," he suggested.

An impressed Zach Myers, 19, cursed over the fee, then joked, "That's sexism. You know how much the chicks get paid for eggs?"

Indeed, ads encouraging women to "be an angel" and donate eggs routinely run in the Stanford Daily. Last year, an anonymous couple offered $100,000 for the eggs of an athletically gifted, young white woman.

Of course, donating eggs is a much more invasive procedure than donating sperm. Women must take fertility pills and then have the eggs surgically removed. For guys, Myers delicately says, donations are not painful.

Health professionals worry that a woman independently screening candidates can't test them for infectious diseases. At the California Cryobank, which has clinics near the University of California-Los Angeles, Stanford and Harvard, the donors must complete a 28-page genetic history, have a physical exam and be interviewed by the staff, said Marla Eby, vice president of marketing. Men are paid $50 per donation, and can come three times a week for a maximum payout of $600 per month.

BioGenetics in New Jersey will pay donors $500 if they're willing to have their identity revealed to women who select their sperm, said Albert Anouna, who directs BioGenetics and the Sperm Bank of New York. Men are limited to a maximum of 10 donations, or two pregnancies.

But the woman who placed the ad doesn't want to go that clinical route. She wants to talk with the potential father of her child -- Hannah if it's a girl, Niles if it's a boy -- and decide if she likes his character, as well as his face. She said admittance into Stanford already suggests his intelligence.

As for the money, "Given that I have money to burn, $15,000 doesn't seem like a lot."

Since her divorce more than a year ago, the woman said she's been distressed by the dating scene, especially by one gentleman, who claimed to have a connection with outer space. Adoption is not an option because she wants to experience childbirth as well as parenthood. But since she is 33 and has endometriosis -- a gynecological disorder that can cause fertility problems -- she feels a sense of urgency.

But even as she says that, she adds that she might put off finding a sperm donor and try the dating scene for another year. She's convinced that the sperm pool will be as good next year. "I got so much response," she said, "I'm not worried."

-- Anonymous, November 21, 2001

Answers

"Men are paid $50 per donation, and can come three times a week" Gee only three times a week. LOL

-- Anonymous, November 21, 2001

For guys, Myers delicately says, donations are not painful.

ROTFL

one gentleman, who claimed to have a connection with outer space. Carl???????

Jes' kidding!

-- Anonymous, November 21, 2001


At $50 bucks a pop, I'd come 3 times a DAY...

Wonder why they limit donations?

How was I to know she had a thing against aliens?

-- Anonymous, November 21, 2001


Carl, don't bite off more than you can chew. LOL

-- Anonymous, November 21, 2001

Humm, never tried it that way Kip, thanks for the idea, but I'll stick to my methods... :)

-- Anonymous, November 21, 2001


If they didn't limit donations, they'd get creamed.

[ahem, is that a pun?]

-- Anonymous, November 21, 2001


When you are through donating they give you a delicious chinese soup calleed Creamofsomeyoungguy. LOL

-- Anonymous, November 21, 2001

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