Flipping through the Crimson newspaper this morning, and not unlike other mornings I found an ad requesting Harvard males and their sperm. The California Cryobank, located at 950 Massachusetts Ave, is searching for males for the donor program. I remembered I had had a conversation with a couple of my male athlete friends last year and they were seriously considering donating to pick up some extra cash. They soon found out that the seemingly easy task of providing their product, was actually much more difficult.

According to California Cryobank’s website, there are stringent criteria that college males must meet. Firstly, you have to be tall. Anyone less than 5’9 can forget about it. Secondly, you must have an immaculate family history devoid of even the most seemingly minute medical ailment. And don’t forget that your sperm is examined down to the count and motility. The Crimson reported that upon speaking with a marketing manager at the company they discovered only two percent of applicants are successful.

Not knowing these stats, my friends tried their luck and were excited at the opportunity to spread their seed. Which raises another interesting ethical question, individuals are becoming increasingly caught up in the possibility of engineering the perfect child, are you aiding in this process? And how would you feel knowing that you could be “fathering” multiple children each month?

In the end my friends came back, only one of them being successful and even he decided against it due to ethical reasons. It has gotten me thinking though, with all these ads for sperm donations, how difficult would it be to provide an egg?