CAL STATE NORTHRIDGE : Sperm Labs Seek Student Donors

It just may be the most unusual part-time job any student ever put on a resume.

Some college students are earning the extra money they need to finance their educations by being regular donors to sperm banks.

The students are recruited through ads in campus newspapers at Cal State Northridge, Valley College and Pierce College.

A recent ad in the CSUN Daily Sundial offered “up to $380 a month for only six hours of your spare time.”

“A good majority of our donors are students,” said Chris Leonard, an office manager with Zygen Laboratory in Van Nuys, a fertility clinic that helps couples have children through artificial insemination. “They’re in school full time and have no time to go out for several hours and work at a job.”

Leonard said that about 75 students are now donating to Zygen, earning $30 for each accepted sample.

In addition to the financial reward, students may decide to donate because they feel a sense of pride in helping an infertile couple, said Nancy Shanfeld, health promotion coordinator for CSUN’s Student Health Center.

“They might be intrigued by the idea,” Shanfeld said. “With the number of infertile couples today--and I read recently it’s one out of six couples--you’ve got a tremendous problem.”

Sperm bank donors are anonymous and are accepted only after a rigorous screening process that includes tests for the AIDS virus and other diseases. After acceptance, donors may contribute to a clinic as often as three times a week.

Zygen lab supervisor Ahn Le said the company prefers students as donors because they often are healthier and better educated and are between the preferred ages of 18 and 35.

But because of the careful screening process, only a limited number of students are accepted as donors. “You could say our average is about five out of 50,” Le said.