The Shanghai sperm bank is suffering from a lack of high-quality donors and is asking more men to help infertile couples conceive a child.
The call for action came over the weekend as the city's only licensed sperm bank, and one of five in China, held a seminar on reproductive issues to mark its two-year anniversary.
The bank, located at Shanghai Renji Hospital, has collected some 6,000 samples, but officials say those are far from enough.
Eight to 10 percent of all married couples are infertile, and about 10 percent of them turn to a sperm bank for help in having a child.
The problem is both a lack of donors and a decline in the quality of sperm, experts said.
Recent tests showed that quality is dropping due to food additives, environmental pollution, radiation, unhealthy lifestyles and emotional stress.
Doctors estimated that 20 percent of the men in China have reproductive systems disorders, 25 percent suffer sexual dysfunction and 10 percent are infertile.
"In the past two years, more than 2,000 people came here for physical checks and only 400 were found to be qualified," said Dr Li Zheng, the sperm bank's director. "More than 60 percent washed out due to sperm quality,"
"As a single male can become involved in only five pregnancies, we are always looking for donors."
University students now represent the main donor pool, but all healthy men under 40 are encouraged to give sperm and help families that are trying to have a child.
There's a side benefit as well. Every donor gets a free health check.
"So, it's also a good opportunity for men to detect possibly hidden diseases and gain reproductive knowledge," Li said.
(Shanghai Daily March 28, 2005)
