Vicky Donor has really popularized sperm donation
to the extent that young boys are now calling up fertility clinics to see how
they can donate sperm and make a quick buck. Sperm donation is one of the many
third party reproduction techniques. However, without doubt it’s the easiest
and least troublesome though it can only be used when the male partner is
infertile or for same-sex couples. If you think any male can pop into the
clinic and donate his sperm, you’re wrong. There are a score of tests prospective
donors have to undergo before they can donate sperm. There is a round of sperm
analysis tests, which checks the sperm’s mobility, count, volume and other
parameters.
The donor has to be between the ages of 21-45 and
not suffer from HIV, hepatitis B and C, hypertension, diabetes, STDs and
genetic disorders. The blood group and Rh status of the individual also needs
to be noted. The tests are thorough and need to cover everything including
height, weight, age, skin and eye colour, family medical history etc. A little
background check including educational qualification and profession also takes
place.
The movie ‘Vicky Donor’ is to be believed, one can
live his life more than comfortably with his ‘sperm earnings’. However, in
reality, the compensation part is in a moral grey area. Although the rules are
pretty clear for financial compensation for a surrogate mother the rules for
paying sperm donors isn’t very clear. According to guidelines by the Indian
Council of Medical Research (ICMR), no remuneration can be paid for any form of
donation, be it of kidneys, blood, or sperms. The only compensation that is
paid is in the form of expenses incurred during and directly related
(travelling expense, etc.) to sperm donation. However, various sperm banks have
been known to approach donors directly and promise them certain amounts for
successful donations.
An infertile couple can approach a fertility clinic
where they are told their various options. These include the various assisted
reproduction techniques and one of them is getting a sperm donor. There are
various different ways to get sperm donors.
The traditional Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) procedure
dictates that a sperm donor can only be approached through a sperm bank. The
fertility clinic has to obtain sperm from appropriate banks though neither the
clinic nor the couple should know the identity of the donor. However, it shall
have the donor’s entire information like height, weight, skin colour,
educational qualification, ethnicity, profession, etc. The sperm is usually inseminated using
various artificial reproduction techniques.
However, while the film has drawn enthusiastic
donors, the absence of a regulatory mechanism is queering the pitch for many
serious players in the business. "The business of sperm and egg donation,
or surrogacy for that matter, is like playing football without
goalposts,". Collecting and storing semen samples is expensive for
companies like. These stipulate extensive medical testing of the donor besides
the mandatory quarantining of semen samples in liquid nitrogen tanks at -196
degree Celsius for a minimum of six months before use.
Due to lack of stringent adherence to laws,
fertility centers are known to approach donors directly although this is
illegal. In addition, the internet has given couples another way to directly
contact a sperm donor. There are various websites, which allow everyone to put
up their information including intending parents, sperm donors, surrogate
mothers and egg donor. These websites effectively take away any way to regulate
the procedure. Couples who want a child can state their preferences and they
can approach the donor after checking out his profile. The profile usually has
all the information required for the parents to select a donor including
pictures although there is no way to guarantee about the authenticity of the
information involved. There are options to find donors in other countries as
well and this has led to a sort of fertility tourism where women visit
countries where sperm donation is permitted. Sperm donation laws vary all over
the world, for example a single woman in India is allowed ART but it’s illegal
in various countries so interested couples might travel to India where it is
legal.
"The film's social message is significant
because it is spurring people from many families to donate sperm. In genetic
terms, it is an important development because this would lead to good
progeny."
Vicky Donor as milestone cinema whose impact has
gone far beyond anything to society, This at a time when lifestyle diseases and
stress are causing diminished sperm counts and motility amid many men in their
reproductive age. At least one half of the infertility cases referred to clinic
is a consequence of the "male factor". "50 per cent of infertile men are not
producing any sperm cells at all. And the other half suffers from lowered sperm
counts and low motility".
The absence of regulation has also attracted many
unscrupulous players who cut costs by routinely forgoing even basic medical
testing of donors or the obligatory quarantining of samples. "You cannot
be careful enough,” recalling instances where patients had procured semen
samples from local diagnostic laboratories that possess no facilities to wash
or Cryo-preserve (freeze) sperm cells. Unlike in the Bollywood film where the
protagonist makes a career out of selling his spermatozoa, it is not all that
lucrative in the real world. However, refuses to pay anything but out-of-pocket
expenses. "No one seems to remember that it is sperm donation,"
"The subject of sperm donation is no longer
discussed in whispers. It is openly debated - an accepted option to help in a
noble cause and earn some extra money," "The sample is taken and
incubated for six-odd months. Tests for all infections are carried out to rule
out infections like HIV. It is only after these formalities that the sample is
used. Moreover, remuneration is also not all that handsome as the young may
believe,"
"Donating blood helps save a precious
life. Egg Donation & Sperm donation would help create new life"
