Letters To A Woman: From A Man's Point of View

Letters To A Woman: From A Man's Point of View

Dear Woman,

Why do so many of you go after the jerks that treat you like crap and ignore the nice guys that would treat you like a queen?

The Discrimination of Sperm Banks

The Discrimination of Sperm Banks

By Peter Michael Hall

“Fertility Cryobank is currently seeking extraordinary men, between the ages of 18 and 35, to become sperm donors. Our intended parents are richly diverse in their backgrounds and interests, thus we are in search of donors who offer a broad spectrum of unique qualities.In return for participation in our program, we offer a generous compensation package which can exceed $1,000 per month. In addition, you’ll receive a free physical examination and genetic screening. While sperm donation provides much more than just monetary compensation, many of our donors have used the proceeds to pay for college, travel the world, and supplement personal income. As a participant in our donor program, you will have the opportunity to make dreams come true for yourself, as well as for infertile couples and singles who can’t conceive children on their own. Applicants must have attended/be currently attending a four-year university or have demonstrated success in a chosen career.”(From The Fertility Cryobank Website.)

This statement from The Fertility Cryobank website is in essence discriminatory, not against race, culture, ethnicity, religion, or national origin, but against socioeconomic status. For instance why is it necessary for donors to have attended, or be currently attending a four-year university? And what difference does it make what kind of career a potential donor has, or how successful they are in that career?

I understand why they are extremely selective about the health, genetic makeup, and even age of men who want to be sperm donors. These men need to be thoroughly tested for any genetic flaws that they may have that could affect the health of any children that they may help conceive, but a person’s finances and education should not disqualify them from the donor application process, especially because a donor can request that they remain anonymous, and they do not have any legal or financial responsibility toward any offspring that result from his donation.

Another unfair aspect of this, is that donors who are selected may potentially receive $1,000 a month. If they are already established in a career, and are financially independent because of their career, they don’t need this income. However there are plenty of people who do need that income, and because of their financial/education status, they are essentially considered undesirable.

A person’s, finances and education or lack thereof should have no bearing in determining whether they are fit to donate sperm. The only reason Fertility Cryobank, and other similar establishments have those requirements are for their clients, women who are unable to get pregnant, or who simply do not want to get involved sexually with a man to satisfy their desire to be a mother.

Fertility Cryobank, and other establishments around the country, and the world, have developed sperm donor profiles, which detail the various donors’ interests, job history, physical information, etc. It’s almost like a social networking site, but instead of being used to network, make friends, find that special someone for a relationship, these profiles are used to match compatibility between the male donors, and the female clients. Though the two will never meet, the clients get to choose which donor they want to get impregnated by, and they do that by looking at these profiles, and deciding whom they like best. And from their point of view, they would rather be impregnated by a man who is well established in his chosen profession, than from some Joe Schmoe who even though he is perfectly healthy, doesn’t have a four-year degree, and is struggling to make ends meet.

Another, reason that the fertility banks require their donors to be educated, financially independent, and professionally successful, has nothing to do with pleasing their clients, but everything to do with greed. By requiring that their donors fit within a prerequisite socioeconomic class, they are limiting the amount of money that they pay out to successful donors. While paying one thousand dollars a month to successful donors is not a lot of money, it is almost three hundred dollars less than what somebody working an $8.00 an hour minimum wage full time job would get each month, which is a gross amount of $1,280. That money would still add up to an exponential amount if the requirements for donating were not so stringent, which would allow the base of potential donors to expand quite a bit.

In conclusion, fertility banks by refusing to allow people of lower socioeconomic status to donate are implying that the people who do not fit their requirements are inferior, and that their genetic material is not worth donating.