This is my first in what I plan to be a series of ways to make money outside of being a wage slave.
I’m not talking about that illegal age old profession. I’m talking about legal body part prostitution. Now get those images of a man waking up in a bathtub minus one of his kidneys out of your head right now. What I am suggesting is a legal, ethical, and relatively safe method of selling bodily fluids and renting your body for science.
I. I Want Your Blood
In spite of the hard work of the Red Cross and their numerous blood drives across the country, there is still a desperate need for certain blood types, such as my blood type O, the “universal donor”, and the rare AB negative. Blood drives always offer free food and drink, but you can often find a drive that will pay up to $20 a pint and more if you have platelet rich blood. Do not donate more than once every six to eight weeks. That’s about how long it takes for your body to replace the cellular matter in the blood. There was an episode of that old sitcom “Married with Children” (season 6, episode 4) Al runs out of blood when he sells his to get Kelly and manager Jefferson the money for a major pool game bet. It’s not funny in real life so don’t use fake names to over donate and don’t even think of donating if you have a blood-borne disease such as AIDS or Hepatitis.
II. Sperm Bank
If needles aren’t your thing, and you’re a healthy male between the ages of 18 and 44, you weren’t adopted and have no family medical history of genetic disease, then donating your Lovin’ Spoonful maybe for you. Didn’t know that’s what that band name meant did you? That’ right I’m talking about sperm banks. If you have all of the above, along with a high enough sperm count and the ability and willingness to produce a specimen 4-8 times per month, but in a laboratory this time (hospital bathroom) and make a 6-month commitment then you could be on your way to some easy money.
Some sperm is used for genetic research but most of the time it is used for artificial insemination. Generally speaking you are an anonymous donor and are not told of successful pregnancies and don’t get to meet the parents, although different sperm banks have slightly different policies. Its good money and you are providing a valuable service to childless couples, but you need to make your own moral judgments. Back to what you care about, how much money can I earn? What are we talking about here? A little trickle into my bank account (sorry couldn’t help myself) or some mad scrilla?
Each bank varies in what they pay per specimen. Usually, the range is $35-$50 per specimen. Banks often require a six-month gap between production and complete payment. That is, they will not release payments to a sperm donor until he has completed the second set of blood tests; six months after the first set were done. The reason for this is fairly straightforward. Any specimens in a laboratory's bank cannot be released until a second blood test, (done after a 6 month quarantine period) returns negative and proves that no infections were in the blood at the time the specimens were produced. The banks, as an assurance that the donor will return for the 6 months blood test, will hold payment for that time. So the down side is the deferred payment, but a once a week donation for six months (26 weeks) @ $50 per is still $1300 at the end of that six months. If you’re the average man that’s 26 x 2 minutes or about an hour of “work” for $1300 and for most of you no heavy lifting involved. Finding the sperm bank nearest you is as easy as going to
http://www.spermbankdirectory.com
III. Surrogate Mother
Okay, this is for the ladies, but only for a select view I would suspect. What do you get for the career woman who has everything? Why a new baby of course. Become a surrogate mother for an infertile woman. Think Amy Poehler in “Baby Mama”. How does it work you ask. Usually the surrogate mother’s egg is artificially inseminated with male sperm through a process known as IVF or in vitro fertilization. Sleeping with the sperm donor would of course be extra. (Just kidding) In some cases the surrogate mother is implanted with a donor egg as well as donor sperm.
The requirements for a prospective surrogate are that the surrogate mother must be in generally good physical and mental health. Prospective adoptive parents will require that their surrogate mother have a relatively clean bill of health before committing to the arrangement. This involves getting a complete physical and psychological examination.
If this is something that you would consider try contacting surrogate mother agencies and/or adoption lawyers. Adoption lawyers and surrogate parent agencies promote themselves on the web, and place newspaper ads seeking surrogate mothers. They will conduct a preliminary screening interview to make sure that you will be a good candidate as a surrogate. Matching compatible couples with birth-mothers is one of the most important services that the surrogate agency or adoption lawyer can provide. If you agree to be a surrogate mother, it must be in writing. In many states, a surrogate mother has the right to change her decision even after the child is born and she is not legally required to return any money to the prospective adoptive parents. It is highly likely that a background check will be done to determine if you have a criminal history and your driving record will also be examined. If someone is going to invest in you they want to make sure you do have a risky lifestyle.
If an arrangement is made you will need to carry the baby to full term, have a brief moment with your baby and then give the baby to the new parents. There may also be additional paperwork to complete as well. You will then agree in writing that your parental rights will be permanently terminated, however, in some cases adoptive parents want the birth-mother to maintain a connection as her baby grows. Whether you wish to do this is something that should be discussed by the birth-mother with the prospective adoptive parents beforehand
This is a real commitment of both mind and body for nine plus months, and something that should not be entered into lightly, but what a payday. What do prospective adoptive parents pay for such a service? Payments vary among surrogate agencies and prospective parents and often vary based on whether the baby is your first or subsequent birth. Money is almost always collected by the surrogate agency in full and held in trust prior to entering into the surrogate agreement. A first time surrogate will usually receive between $20,000 and $35,000 for her time in addition to having hospital and physician costs covered. Experienced surrogates usually receive more (often $5,000 or more) than a first time surrogate. Everybody pays more for experience it seems. There is a more practical reason for paying more to an experienced surrogate and that is there is a lower risk to the adoptive parents that you are both willing and able to carry their baby to term and go through with the adoption. Arrangements where a surrogate has been paid in excess of fifty thousand dollars are not uncommon.
Some of the reputable surrogate agencies include the Center for Surrogate parenting,
http://www.creatingfamilies.com/home/default.aspx
International Assisted Reproduction Center
http://www.fertilityhelp.com/Reproductive Assistance, Inc.
http://www.reproassistinc.com/
Open Arms Consultants, Inc.
http://www.openarmsconsultants.com/
IV. Egg Bank
If going the Full Monty is a little too much for you, being an egg donor is the flip side of the sperm bank donation, albeit the donation process is probably less fun. Here are a few statistics. The first known pregnancy achieved with a donated egg occurred in 1984. Today, an estimated 10,000 babies a year are born worldwide from donated eggs. Egg donation is commonly used by: Couples in which the woman has poor quality or no eggs, but who want a biological child using the male’s sperm, women with no ovaries but an intact uterus, women with genetic factors that they don’t want to pass on to their children, and women over the age of 39.
The process is as follows: Eggs, called oocytes, are surgically retrieved from healthy young women, generally between 21 to 30 years old - at their reproductive prime and old enough to give informed consent. Egg or oocyte donors undergo psychological and medical screening, which includes a thorough medical history and workup. Next, donors receive hormone injections to induce a super ovulation (five or so eggs versus one, which women naturally release each month). A doctor then surgically removes eggs from the donor’s ovaries. Told you it was less fun the sperm donation process. The lab will attempt to fertilize several eggs in vitro (in a laboratory) using the recipient’s partner’s sperm or donated sperm. Fertilized eggs (embryos) are then inserted into the recipient’s uterus. If successful, the embryo will attach to the uterine lining and develop into a healthy baby.
Now for the bottom line, how much will they pay? Can I have a drum roll please? Donors are paid from about $7,000 to $20,000 on average! I don’t know about you but that seems like a little better return for the time commitment than going the surrogate mother route. Just like with the sperm banks, the egg banks will treat you as an anonymous donor and are not told of successful pregnancies and don’t get to meet the parents, although each egg bank may have slightly different privacy policies.
As with the sperm banks there are many egg banks around the country. One of the largest is
