Sperm black market

Huang, a professional black-market sperm donor, vowed for a third time to Yu Hua and her husband, "I swear that I will never meet this child for my whole life under any circumstances!"

The couple from Shanxi Province nodded. They had been longing for a child, and Huang was tall and intelligent. Although not classically handsome, he bore a striking resemblance to Yu Hua's husband, and shared his blood type, ensuring no one would ever have to know their secret.

They signed the agreement to let Huang donate his sperm to the wife, joining the ranks of a growing number of Chinese couples who resort to the Internet-based black market, despite the lack of safeguards to protect women from giving birth to an unhealthy baby. There are only 11 sperm banks in China, and they suffer from a shortage of sperm donors, explains Jiang Xiang-long, director of the Jiangxi Province Human Sperm Bank.

Yu Hua had lingered on the Shanxi Human Sperm Bank's waiting list for one year without success, and started to grow desperate.

"The reproductive medical center told us that we have to wait for another 15 months, after I have done all the medical checkups. I'm already 32 and could not wait any longer," Yu Hua told the Global Times.

Yu posted her contact information on a forum for infertile couples and sperm donors. She received many calls, finally selecting Huang out of 10 potential donors whose personal introductions were all similar: tall, handsome, smart and healthy, with a desire to help others and willing to donate sperm for free.