Social taboo still a worrisome factor curbing sperm donation

Though sperm donation is gaining ground in China, fears about potential incest and other social taboos are keeping many potential donors away from the clinics, say experts.

Candy, a 34-year old Chinese woman, who only wants to be quoted by her English name for privacy, has been married for five years and is desperate to have her own child. Though regular check-ups revealed no major problems, her problem arose as her husband's sperm had low vitality, or in other words as much as 99.9 percent of the sperm was dead.

Though the couple tried every possible means to improve the quality of the sperm, including a surgery, a course of traditional Chinese herbal medicine and even the advanced in vitro fertilization, nothing much happened. Till date the couple have spent about 300,000 yuan ($46,333) on various procedures.