Is trading sperm for cash moral?

[tnunamak]

My friend just told me that he filled out an extensive survey, and once he gets it okayed, he plans on going to donate to a sperm bank. Once I got beyond the humor of it, I started to wonder what would really be so bad about it. He says he can go twice a week for $80 each time, and for a poor college student he will be doing pretty well considering how much time he will have to spend on it.

So the question is, is it immoral? You are trading a product of your body for money, a product that will possibly be used to create life in your physical image (partially).

I just find the whole thing to be quite amusing honestly.

Edited October 7, 2005 by tnunamak

[dondigitalia]

Of course it's moral. It is an uncoerced trade of values to mutual benefit.

[Hakarmaskannar]

So the question is, is it immoral? You are trading a product of your body for money, a product that will possibly be used to create life in your physical image (partially).

It's as moral as being able to sell a spare kidney see hear but with less risk to your health (unless you have an unfortunate accident, so be careful with those zippers )

The only 'moral' problem would be from a determinists' point-of-view, but as DNA doesn't control who we are your friend shouldn't have to worry about any little 'copies' running around.

I'm not sure about the US but I know that here in the UK the government has considered, but not yet implemented, a change to the law protecting the identity of anonymous donors. I hope that's not the case with your friend, as having to attend 20 or more 16th birthday parties a month might be a struggle

[BurgessLau]

So the question is, is it immoral?

Why has the question of immorality arisen? I don't see anything in your description that would even raise an alarm.

[Groovenstein]

Why has the question of immorality arisen? I don't see anything in your description that would even raise an alarm.

Preliminarily, I would like to note that I am not speaking for or about the original poster. I am merely drawing from my own experience as to why this might "raise an alarm" to some individuals.

I was raised in a Christian home. Even after I explicity rejected many of the "fundamentals" of Christianity in my late teens, I still either affirmatively believed or did not explicitly reject many of the corollary issues. By "corollary," I mean those issues that are not a part of Christianity, but on which many of the Christians with whom I came in contact shared a similar viewpoint. For example, when I was 19, I attended a blues concert with my friend, his girlfriend, and a friend of hers. This friend of hers was funny, attractive, and upbeat. I rejected her flirtations and advances. While I rejected the idea that premarital sex was bad (for "reasons" I can not remember), I still wasn't entirely comfortable with human sexuality. As many who were brought up around religion can attest, some religious people teach you that sex is dirty. At that time I was not over that (and perhaps still am not, I do not know).

So, what might raise an alarm in some people (again, I'm not speaking about this particular poster, as I don't know him) is that insemination (and thus the masturbation required to get the sample) is part of that dirty "sex" thing. Another alarm-raising possibility is for people who still, in some way, hold on the notion that the insemination process isn't "natural."

I'm not saying these views are valid, but merely that overcoming them is quite the task, and that those who haven't totally overcome them may think that this issue raises an alarm.

I am glad that I can now say, confidently, that selling sperm is in no way immoral. You're selling a product of your body to a willing buyer who (presumably) is going to use it for a rational purpose.