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.”
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.
Saturday 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.”
PUNCH
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