A Nigerian mechanic, Yakubu Tobias, has narrated the ordeals he experienced in the course of trying to donate sperm.
Sperm donation is a service to humanity and continuity – although with some business sense as the donor is paid some N150,000.
Many would believe that sperm has no social class but medical experts may not be categorical on this, or views may just vary.
Tobias’s experience seems to buttress the fear that the process could be cumbersome.
More so, he said he was disqualified from donating because most sperm banks were not interested in donors who were not at least five feet, nine inches tall.
The News Agency of Nigeria quotes him as saying in an interview: “The first day I showed interest, my every physical feature was scrutinised, and I was asked to provide a childhood photo.
“I was asked to write an essay, or do a taped interview, to be shared with potential buyers, but at the end my height disqualified me.
“I do not see anything wrong with the pay, if I was able to donate like three times, that is cool money for me. It is better than going to ask my people for money or stealing,” he said.
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Also sharing his experience, Mr Patrick Akpan, a Civil Servant, said after passing all the requirement he was asked to remain anonymous.
“There has been a growing recognition of children’s rights to know their genetic parents and recently a trend toward donor willingness to be identified.
“If I am going to receive that amount of money, I should be able to know who I am giving my sperm too. What if it is the only child I will be giving away? It is not worth the unknown problems in the future,” Akpan said.
He said that even anonymous donors were increasingly being identified by curious children as genetic testing becomes cheaper and more common.
“So, I will advise every man to think this through before becoming a sperm donor in the country because there are no laws backing this procedures up,“ he said.
