The Family Planning Association of Hong Kong reports a steady decline in the number of sperm donors since the opening of its sperm bank in 1981. Last year there were only 32 new donors. However, 210 couples await artificial insemination. Under current rules, donors must be local Chinese between 18 and 45 years of age. They must be physically fit, they must have no visible defects, and they must have no known genetic diseases.
Educational levels and occupations are not criteria for donor selection, however.
As is the case with organ donations, a physical exam is done before sperm donation. This includes routine height and weight measurements, blood tests -- the blood tests include tests for AIDS -- as well as tests for colour-blindness and tests of cardiac and respiratory systems. The exam takes about half an hour.
Donation room: Pornographic poster on the wall was replaced with another for this photo
Then the donor is left alone in a small room, where he masturbates, ejaculating into a vial. For arousal, pornographic magazines and posters are provided. The donor can take as much time as he needs.Not all the semen that is collected can be used for artificial insemination. In fact, only one-third of donated sperm is considered useful, according to Miss Tam Yuk Kit, press officer of the Family Planning Association.
"Only sperm with normal shape, of high density and in an active state will be used. In order to guarantee the quality of sperm, we remind donors not to ejaculate three days before sperm donation.Besides, an AIDS test has to be done six months after donation. However, many donors don't come back for the test. So their semen is kept aside until the test is done," she said.
Whether or not the semen is used, donors are given $300 after donation. Some people see this as a "financial return" for donated semen. However, the Association denies that the payment is made to induce donations."The money is not given as a reward, but as a travelling allowance for the donors.
"It is paid as a courtesy for the donors. If they feel uneasy about receiving the money, they can refuse it," said Miss Tam.
Donors are also required to sign a consent form signifying that they have agreed to give up their rights to obtain any information about the babies and their parents. If a donor is married, his wife is also required to sign."Information on donors and couples is kept strictly confidential. This is to protect the privacy rights of both sides. The couples can choose whether to tell their babies or not," said Miss Tam.
At present the Family Planning Association accepts applications for artificial insemination only from infertile Chinese couples."To match the physical attributes and blood type of the inseminated baby with the couple is our main criterion in choosing sperm. While the physical attributes of Chinese people are more or less the same -- they all have black eyes and hair -- the physical attributes of Western people are different," said Miss Tam.
Attempting to clear up misconceptions about sperm donation and attract more donors, the Family Planning Association is planning a publicity campaign at the end of this year. The campaign will include a TV ad and talks at tertiary institutions.
Meanwhile, the Association's sperm donation program is opposed by some religious groups.Father Ng Chi Fan of the Christian Alliance insists that sperm donation is abnormal. He thus opposes it, no matter what the rationale.
"Human lives are granted by God," said Father Ng, "and they should not be chosen and controlled by human beings. Thus, human life can't be treated as a commodity to satisfy the wants of the parents.
"Besides, sperm donation means an intervention by a third party into a marriage covenant. Donors are indeed biologically related to the artificially inseminated child. It sounds odd that they need not bear any responsibility for the baby," he said.
In Hong Kong, there is no legislation requiring couples to tell children born through artificial insemination that they were conceived this way, and Father Ng said this is unfair to the offspring.
"This actually violates their human rights. Most likely, the parents will not want to tell them the truth. Since the children are not biologically related to the infertile fathers, they may be treated unfairly (in the household). Also, the presence of the children may always remind the fathers of their infertility. This may affect their relationships as well," said he.
For infertile couples, Father Ng said adoption is more appropriate.
"Adoption not only is applauded by society, but it also prevents intervention by a third person into a marriage." In addition, Masturbation, meanwhile, is unavoidable in sperm donation, and it is considered immoral by Catholics. Masturbation is taboo even among many non-Catholics, and this undoubtedly puts off many potential donors.
On the other hand, the Family Planning Association has different ideas about masturbation and child adoption."In our view, masturbation is not immoral. It is just a response to an instinctual need of the human being. Like blood donation, sperm donation is another way of helping others.
"We encourage both child adoption and artificial insemination. However, there are some differences between the two methods. For artificial insemination, though the sperms may come from somebody else other than the father, there is still a blood relation between the mother and the baby. And the mother goes through pregnancy and brings forth the baby by herself. These are simply impossible when it comes to adopting children," said Miss Tam.
The possibility of incest is another cause of concern: Children conceived with sperm from the same donor, not knowing who their true biological father is, may meet as adults and have children of their own. However, Miss Tam said evidence suggests that only four incest cases of this kind occur in every 1 million marriages.
"We don't limit the number of donations of the donors. But we have measures to control the possibility of incest. For example, once three women get pregnant by using sperm from a single donor, his sperm is not used any more," she said.
Focusing on tertiary students by arranging talks with them is being criticized for encouraging eugenics, or the improvement of racial characteristics by genetic selection. However, Miss Tam said the talks are only a promotional activity.
"Since students are concentrated on the campuses and of similar backgrounds, it is easier to approach them. Besides, the talks also serve an educational purpose, like sex education."Until now, only the University of Hong Kong has permitted the association to hold talks on the campus.
At The Chinese University of Hong Kong, an informal survey of 30 students revealed support for the Family Planning Association's causes, but most students nevertheless said they would not participate in sperm donation or artificial insemination.
The most common worries seemed to be maintenance of the family heritage, opposition from family members, and uncertainty about unforeseen impacts of sperm donation. For instance, a Chinese University engineering student said he would need more information about how his sperm would be used before he would be willing to participate in a sperm donation program."It sounds weird that I would know nothing about a child who is biologically related to me," he said. "And the possibility of incest worries me."
A science student said social pressure would block him from joining the sperm donation scheme: "I would not join the scheme because sperm donation is not socially acceptable," he said.
Such attitudes are the result of poor education programs by the Family Planning Association, said an accountancy student at Baptist College:"In my opinion, the lack of education causes social misconceptions about sperm donation. The Family Planning Association seems reluctant to talk about the issue openly.
"Like abortion and cohabitation, sperm donation is considered immoral and unethical in society. I don't feel I am morally responsible in participating in sperm donation, like I do in blood donation. I think sperm donation can succeed only when social misunderstandings have been corrected by education."
Although a massive publicity campaign is about to begin, Miss Tam said the Family Planning Association has set no goal on the number of donors it hopes to enlist.
"We hope the public will understand more about sperm donation and be more generous in giving help to others," said Miss Tam.