More Americans Hock Eggs, Sperm in Recession

What once was a last-resort way to make extra cash is now a main source of income for Americans crunched by the economic crisis

When times are tough, sometimes you have to sell what you've got. On occasion, this can be a stack of CDs you don't listen to or a nice tea set from your grandmother. But sometimes, you have to hawk parts of your person. We're not talking about selling sex or your hair and teeth, Fantine-style; we're talking about the market for your reproductive matter.

According to a WPRI piece via the Drudge Report, the Northeast Assisted Fertility Group reports that the number of applications from women looking to donate their eggs has recently doubled, and about 15 percent more males showed up to make a deposit at the sperm bank in 2008 than in 2007. The two aren't exactly equivalent - sperm donors don't need much beyond a little cup and a few clicks on Fleshbot, while egg donors have to be in prime fertility (usually in their early 20s) and undergo all sorts of ovary-stimulating fertility drug treatments over time before their eggs can be harvested. (But this also accounts for the discrepancy in monetary reward: Daddygoods fetch about $50 to $200 overall, whereas mommygoods go for up to $10,000 a pop.) But don't plan to live off your reproductive matter just yet: The piece also notes that most applications, male and female, are denied.

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