Just this year, China ended its 30-year-long one-child policy, allowing couples to have up to two children.
With this change comes an even greater need for an already scant commodity — sperm.
China is entreating men between the ages of 20 and 45 to donate sperm “for the sake of your country,” The New York Times reports.
Securing sperm from donors is not as easy as it might appear. Almost half of Chinese men who do choose to donate are weeded out due to sexually transmitted diseases or “inadequate semen parameters,” a 2011 study said.
Further, The New York Times reports that many Chinese men do not donate because Chinese traditional medicine associates semen with vitality.
Additionally, many are reluctant to use sperm donors, arguing the practice is not in line with Confucian values.
[READ: In China, Confucius is politically correct.]
Sperm banks are reportedly trying to combat this with incentives such as a rose-gold iPhone and up to $1,000 in cash.
According to the Times, one Beijing sperm bank’s ad reads: “Donating sperm and donating blood are the same thing. It’s all about giving back to society.”
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China Wants Young Men to Donate Their Sperm for Their Country originally appeared on usnews.com
