People get married for different reasons. While some seek
companionship in marriage, many go into it for the purpose of
procreation. For couples who look forward to having children
immediately after marriage, being declared ‘infertile’ by experts is
like a death sentence.
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 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.”
PUNCH 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 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 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.”
Olusegun explained that good sperm should have “at least 50 per
cent motility (activeness) because sperm cells can be active,
sluggish or dead.”
“For morphology (shape) too, which could be normal or abnormal,
sperm should have upward of 50 per cent normal cells. And there
should not be bacteria growth,” she added.
Ogunmokun described low concentration of sperm as
“Oligospermia.” He, however, said a sperm count with a minimum
lower limit of 20 million sperm per millimetre of semen would still be
considered normal. But he added that any sperm concentration of
less than 20 million per millimetre of semen could be categorised as
mild, moderate or severe oligospermia, depending on the count.
Ogunmokun said fertility problems could be with the man, the
woman or the two of them.
PUNCH learnt that the demand for sperm has made the fertility
business a lucrative one. Many of the fertility centres in Lagos
have facilities for sperm preservation, where it’s freezing costs
about N50, 000 per quarter.
Ogunmokun said, “After collection, the semen is processed and
seminal fluid and all other things are removed. The sperm is put in
little bottles and placed in special containers called dewars,
connected to a power source. It is stored at very low temperature
and there must be an indicator for monitoring should there be a
change in the condition.”
He, however, added that there must be a standby generator in a
place like Nigeria, where power supply is unstable, as sperm can
be frozen for decades.
“Although, there are many other reasons why people freeze
sperm, someone living far away from his wife can decide to
freeze his sperm for the wife’s use while he’s away. Also,
someone going for cancer treatment can freeze his sperm before
starting the treatment since such treatments affect sperm
production,” he added.
Ogunmokun said fertility centres focus more on university
undergraduates to ensure that sperm donors have a certain
degree of intelligence.
He said, “The current practice is to actually recruit sperm donors
and the focus is on undergraduates. The focus is on students
because they should be able to provide their ID cards so that
background checks can be done.”
According to Ogunmokun, the perceived increase in the number of
men with low sperm count is as a result of infection and lifestyle
habits like sitting for too long and wearing of tight underwear.
He said, “The testes are not supposed to be too close to the body
because of the higher body temperature. The testes are naturally
colder, so people who travel long distances or sit in traffic for
long can be prone to infertility.”
Ogunmokun advised that men should “exercise appropriately, take
good nutrition, avoid tight underwear, premarital sex, cigarette
and alcohol to try to prevent low sperm count.”
However, Olusegun identified good hygiene as key to the
prevention of low sperm count, saying, “Our environment is too
contaminated.”
