According to Punch, 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 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."
Additional report by Gbenro Adeoye
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