Kenyan students now selling sperms for campus ‘survival’.
Campus is a universe in its own right. It can on one
hand be so sweet and enjoyable but on the other, be a hell of a life depending
on how one takes it and the strategies one adopts.
However, the greatest challenge for a university student is
finance, especially if one comes from a family that is not so financially
stable but wants to live a flashy life.
Being broke has always been in the life of the Kenyan
student. Majority of them find themselves accumulating so much debts from other
students. And with such financial challenges, university students, who in a bid
to cushion themselves from the ugly pressures of these hard economic times,
have devised ways to get that extra coin into their pockets.
A stroll within the corridors of halls of residence will
reveal to you a wide variety of businesses students operate. From photocopying,
printing and binding to selling mobile phone scratch-cards and peddling
‘mandazi’. The chase for the paper is evidently a concerted one.
Campus has a potential market for virtually anything
imaginable. Comrades with sharp business minds will identify the niche and not
hesitate to exploit it. With this kind of creativity, the students have
discovered a new form of ‘goldmine’.
Kenyan university and college students, desperate for money
have become willing depositors for the sperm banks in return for cash. Selling
sperm is the new business frontier in Kenya where one can now just walk in to visit
select sperm clinics and donate his ‘seeds’ for some few bucks.
Times have changed and with the change one can now buy
almost anything, including parenthood. And with the hard pressing economic
times, many students jumped onto the trade, hoping to make that extra shilling.
Sperm donors are paid between Ksh. 10,000 and Ksh. 14,000. There
are two official sperm banks in operation — at Kenyatta National Hospital (KNH)
and Nairobi Fertility Clinic— in the whole of Kenya. However, there are tens,
if not hundreds of backstreet outfits.
Sperm banks are meant to assist couples who are unable to
conceive on their own get pregnant.
Even though majority of these clinics prefer donors aged
between 19 and 26, any man who is younger than 50 years can donate their sperms.
Students from universities are mostly preferred due to what is perceived that
they possess high IQs which is considered a good gene in a child.
However, besides the IQ, donors are picked based on their
physical characteristics because recipients usually want a close physical match.
Donors are first screened for infectious diseases such as HIV,
Hepatitis B, Chlamydia, Gonorrhea, and more, genetic and systematic diseases
before giving a sample. The clinic
also records the race, complexion, height and other physical fitness parameters
of the donor.
After the screenings, the donor stays without ejaculation for at
least three days to produce good quality sperm. The donor ejaculates into a
sterile cup through masturbation.
The sample is then analysed to make sure it is of good
quality. A good sperm has good movement, good count and good morphology – a
normal sperm has an oval head with a long tail.
After the semen testing, the sample is frozen in liquid
nitrogen for six months before being used, during which the donor is tested
again at the third and sixth month for infectious diseases such as HIV.
The donation is anonymous meaning that the donor will not
know the recipient and the recipient will only know the basic characteristics
of the donor such as height, complexion and age.
One person can only donate three times. However, to reduce the chances of
accidental incest, one cannot donate sperms more than three times and sperm is
often disposed of after about 10 years in the bank.
It is not a hidden secret that Ksh 14,000 is no small money
for any student and especially for something as small as an ejaculation. With such
a precious asset, university and college students are willingly and happily
trading it to any willing buyer, some of whom have already exhausted their ‘3 times limit’.
The process is quite simple one. The student is provided with
some pornographic material to stimulate them, especially for those unable to
rise to the occasion. They then masturbate
into a container there they have it, a cool Ksh. 14,000 into their pockets.
For majority who join this trade, the fascination and the
rush of adrenaline; the sweet feeling that they actually have something that
not all men have; the realisation that it is precious and someone will pay for
it; brings forth the ecstasy that comes with masturbation.
The whole process – from the first day at the clinic to
donation and the testing of sperm quality – could last for months. Nonetheless,
the process has been simplified by backstreet reproductive clinics that operate
with a few in the know in the legit fertility centres.
Backstreet joints are now gaining popularity with most women
willing to undergo in-vitro fertilization (IVF) due to their lower costs and
ease to link up with university student donors. This way, the woman is able to
see and assess the potential donor and negotiate the price for his sperms.
Students admit to have donated sperms twice or more and sell them in
about five times. No credible institution could harvest sperm that many times
from a single donor against rules and regulations and without a thought on
inbreeding.
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