Those with a good educational background now form the majority of sperm donors in Guangzhou. The Guangdong Sperm Bank was established four years ago. A staff worker at the facility said last Wednesday that in the past many donors were college undergraduates and now half of them were people who've received doctorate education in colleges including overseas doctorate degree holders, the Guangdong-based New Express reported.

 

Despite this there's still a severe shortage of sperm in the bank. In Guangdong there are 1,600 couples who come to the sperm bank for help each year but only 20% of them can be given assistance.

 

Chinese state regulations don't place any requirement on the educational background of donors. The laws only stipulate that they should be healthy both physically and mentally.

 

However, it seems to be a trend that more people with higher educational backgrounds wish to donate sperm. At present nearly 80% of donors in Guangdong are college or postgraduate students.

 

The number of postgraduate students donating sperm has increased at the fastest rate among all donors, said Tang Lixin, a doctor and director of the Sperm Bank Department of the Guangdong Provincial Family Planning Special Hospital.

 

(Chinanews.cn January 15, 2007)