捐精前你應該知道的10件事

Dozens of sperm banks across the country recruit men to help them build up a supply of frozen sperm to meet the growing demand from women looking to start families.

爲了滿足希望建立家庭的女性日益增長的需求，全美各地的幾十家精子庫都在招募男性，幫助它們建立凍精供應。

It’s a big business. A vial of sperm can cost almost $1,000. But for the men, it’s probably not the quickest route to beer money. And it’s not simple.

這是一項大買賣。一小瓶精液的價錢可能接近1000美元（約合7000元人民幣）。但對男性來說，這可能不是賺零花錢的最快途徑。這件事並不簡單。

Your odds of getting into Harvard or Stanford are higher than your chances of being accepted as a donor at the major sperm banks.

你上哈佛或斯坦福的機率，都比成爲主要精子庫捐精者的可能性要高。

California Cryobank and Fairfax Cryobank, the nation’s two largest sperm banks, take only about one in 100 applicants. Some deal-breakers: a low sperm count, an iffy health history or sperm that don’t do well after freezing.

在美國最大的兩個精子庫——加利福尼亞州精子冷庫(California Cryobank)和費爾法克斯精子冷庫(Fairfax Cryobank)，申請者的通過率僅爲百分之一。導致申請者被拒的一些因素包括：精子數量少、健康記錄有問題或精子冷凍後表現不佳。

If you’re short, forget about it.

個子矮就算了吧。

Most sperm banks aren’t interested in white donors who aren’t at least 5 feet 9 inches, because most of their clients don’t want them. But the bar is lower for members of ethnic groups that tend to be shorter. And given a perpetual lack of African-American donors, height may not be a disqualifier for black donors.

絕大部分精子庫都對身高不足5英尺9英寸（約合175釐米）的白人捐精者不感興趣，因爲大部分客戶都不想要這些人的精子。但對身高往往較矮的其他族裔成員，門檻會低一些。此外，考慮到一直缺乏非裔黑人捐獻者，黑人大概不會因爲身高問題而被取消資格。

Your love life may take a hit.

愛情生活可能會受影響。

Keeping your sperm count high enough to make the grade means at least two — more often three — days of abstinence before each donation. And donors are expected to produce a good specimen once or twice a week, leaving not much time for sex between visits.

爲了達到標準，必須保持精子數量足夠高，這意味着每次捐精前，至少需要禁慾兩天——往往需要三天以上。並且捐獻者被要求一週提供一次或兩次的上乘樣本，因此這個間歇期並沒爲你的性生活留太多時間。

You won’t get a quick paycheck.

不會很快拿到報酬。

To prevent the spread of HIV and other diseases, the Food and Drug Administration requires that sperm be frozen for six months, and the donor retested, before it can be used. Sperm banks won’t pay until your sperm is ready for sale and you are added to the donor catalog.

爲了防止艾滋病毒(HIV)和其他疾病的傳播，美國食品與藥品管理局(Food and Drug Administration)要求精子在使用前須冷凍六個月，且捐獻者須再次接受檢查。在準備出售你的精子並將你加入捐獻者名錄之前，精子庫是不會付錢的。

You’ll fill out lots of forms and have lots of tests.

得填不少表格，做不少測試。

There will be many questions about your sexual history, drug use, goals, hobbies, talents and recent travel (to rule out Zika exposure).

問卷涉及很多問題，包括性生活史、藥物使用狀況、人生目標，興趣愛好、各種特長，以及最近旅遊地（爲了排除茲卡病毒）。

You will undergo physical, psychological, personality and S.T.D. screening, and give blood, urine and (uncompensated) semen samples.

得做體檢、心理測試、性格測試和性病篩查，要提供血樣、尿樣和精子樣本（無償）。

Your every physical feature will be scrutinized, and you may be asked to provide a childhood or adult photo and write an essay, or tape an interview, to be shared with potential buyers.

你身上的每一種身體特徵都會經過仔細檢查，可能還會被要求提供一張童年時代的照片或成人時的照片，並被要求寫一篇文章或錄製一段訪談，供潛在的買家分享。

There will also be genetic testing, the extent of which depends on your ethnicity:

還會有基因測試，範圍取決於你的種族。

Ashkenazi Jews are tested for by far the greatest number of genetic diseases.

目前，阿什肯納茲猶太人(Ashkenazi Jews)需要檢查的基因疾病種類遠超其他族羣。

Some sperm banks tout all that free testing as a benefit of becoming a donor.

有些精子庫會將這些免費測試作爲一種福利，以此招募捐精者。

Your pay will depend on how often you donate, and how many vials — usually two or three — the sperm bank can fill from each donation.

報酬取決於捐精頻率，以及每次捐獻的精液能裝滿幾瓶（通常是二到三瓶）。

Compensation varies, but an active donor who produces specimens twice a week might make $1,500 a month.

報酬標準不一，不過每週提供兩次精子的活躍捐獻者大致能獲得每月1500美元的報酬

(For buyers, the price per vial ranges from $500 to $900 if the sperm is to be used for intrauterine or intracervical insemination.

（如果購買者使用宮腔內人工授精或宮頸內人工授精，購買價格在每瓶500美元到900美元。

If the bank also sells sperm for in vitro fertilization, which requires less processing but has a lower success rate, the price is lower.).

如果精子庫也向所需程序較少但成功率較低的體外人工受精提供精子，那麼售價會低一些）。

You can’t wait for the mood to strike you.

不能等情緒來了才捐。

Being a sperm donor is not a weekend hobby.

捐精可不是什麼週末業餘愛好。

Donations generallyhave to be made during business hours — at some sperm banks, shortened business hours — Monday through Friday.

捐獻通常必須在辦公時間進行，也就是週一到週五，某些精子庫的辦公時間還是縮短的。

And of course, you have to live near one of the sperm bank’s offices.

當然，你的住處得離某個精子庫辦公室不遠。

Between them, California Cryobank and Fairfax Cryobank have offices in 10 cities, and there are dozens of smaller operations across the country.

加利福尼亞冷庫和費爾法克斯冷庫共在十個城市裏開設了辦公室，在全國各地還有幾十家較小的類似企業。

You have to make a long-term commitment.

需要長期承諾。

Because they invest about $2,000 per donor in the recruitment and screening process, most sperm banks ask for an agreement that you will donate at least once a week for six months to a year —a lot of sessions in a small room with a modest supply of pornography.

精子庫在每位捐獻者身上都要投入2000美元左右的招募和篩查費用，大多數精子庫會同捐獻者簽署協議，要求承諾六個月到一年內每週至少捐獻一次——過程就是在一個小屋子裏，面對不多的色情製品，這樣的事情要完成很多次。

And you can expect periodic health checkups.

而且還需要定期進行健康檢查。

You’ll never know how many children you have fathered.

永遠不知道自己究竟會有多少子女。

There’s no legal limit, but the biggest sperm banks have policies that one donor’s sperm will not be allowed to sire children for more than 25 to 30 different family units.

這方面沒有法律限制，但是最大的幾家精子庫都有相關政策，同一個捐獻者的精子不能用於25到30個以上不同的家庭單元。

But some families may have two or three children with the donor’s sperm, and others may not report a birth, so they would not be counted in that limit.

但是某些家庭可能使用同一位捐獻者的精子生出兩三個孩子，也有些家庭不會上報生育情況，因此就不會被計入限制之中。

Some men who have joined the Donor Sibling Registry, a site where donors and their children can connect, have been surprised and disturbed to discover that they have dozens of offspring.

有些男性登錄幫助捐精者和子女取得聯繫的捐精親屬登記( Donor Sibling Registry)網站後，驚訝且不安地發現自己有了百八十個後代。

You may or may not get to meet them.

不一定與子女相見。

Sperm donors usually have the option to remain anonymous, or to agree that the children can get in touch when they turn 18.

精子捐獻者通常有權利選擇匿名，也可以允許子女年滿18歲後和自己取得聯繫。

There has been a growing recognition of children’s rights to know their genetic parents — and recently a trend toward donor willingness to be identified.

目前社會愈來愈傾向於認可子女有權知道自己基因意義上的雙親——近來捐獻者願意留下真實身份的趨勢也在增加。

Even anonymous donors are increasingly being identified by curious children as genetic testing becomes cheaper and more common.

隨着基因檢測愈來愈便宜和普及，就連匿名捐獻者也愈來愈有可能被好奇的子女們發現。