As assisted reproductive technologies become common, more women and men are opting to buy sperm to create embryos and pursue parenthood.
Before writing this article, my colleague and I visited three sperm donation clinics in Nairobi. In one clinic, about 50 young men are queuing.
There are three floors in this clinic, and all are full. We join the queue. A woman at the reception hands us a black counter book. In there, we are to write the name, ID number, and purpose of visit.
We write “donor” just like the thousands of men our age who have visited this fertility clinic before us, either for the first time or the sixth time.
Standing at the registry queue at 9.30am, we see more young men coming in, and the donor room, also known as the cabin, where the collection happens, is also already occupied.
As assisted reproductive technologies become common, more women and men are opting to buy sperm to create embryos and pursue parenthood.
In response, many young men are stepping forward to donate sperm, motivated not only by the desire to help others but also by financial need. With the current economic hardships, sperm donation has become a source of income, with donors earning between Sh4,000 and Sh10,000 per donation.
While clinics report a growing number of walk-in donors, one fertility expert offered a contrasting view, stating that all sperm donors are recruited strictly through agents, raising questions about the gap between official procedures and what is actually happening on the ground.
The room
Fertility specialist Dr Ruchik Sarvaiya shows where specimen is stored at a sperm bank.
We are finally led into the sperm collection room. It is discreetly labelled with the initials “S.R.,” meaning “Sperm Room.” According to staff, spelling it out in full on the door would feel “weird” and could be off-putting to donors.
The room is small, with plain white walls, a washbasin, a simple bed, and a basic restroom, noticeably without a door. The air conditioner is set to an uncomfortably cold temperature, and a few electrical sockets are mounted on the walls.
There’s no TV, no magazines, no radio. Donors are, however, allowed to bring their own phones or laptops should they need them for stimulation.
Unlike many clinics in the West, which provide pornographic materials, magazines, videos, or digital content to assist donors during sperm collection, this Nairobi clinic offers none.
The reason, they explain, is simple: possession of pornographic material is prohibited under Kenyan law. As a result, donors are expected to rely on their own devices for stimulation.
Before entering the collection room, every donor must first undergo a counselling session. The assigned counselling psychologist is male, a deliberate choice, according to the clinic staff.
They explain that having a female psychologist might create discomfort or awkwardness for male donors. One staff member even offered a crude but telling scenario: if a male donor were to speak with a female counsellor, he might “very likely” ejaculate before reaching the cabin.
The staff further explained that if a donor is unable to produce a sample at the facility, he is free to leave without any penalties. As an alternative, donors can opt to use special condoms, sealed in airtight polythene bags, which they are allowed to take home and use during natural intercourse.
Once used, the sealed condom must be returned to the clinic for processing. The condom, branded “Male FactorPak,” costs Sh10,000 and is specifically designed for sperm collection. Unlike regular condoms, it does not contain spermicides, which can damage or kill sperm.
We watch as the men hurry past the reception, pick up a sterile container given by the front-office staff, and head inside the cabins. They are also issued a key, allowing them to lock themselves in as long as they need.
Payment depends on the quality of the sample, though we found out that donors are essentially reimbursed for transport. Most of the clinics generally prefer donors living in Nairobi and its environs, though they also receive men from Mombasa, Nyeri, Nakuru, and other towns. The minimum payout is usually Sh4,000.
A surge of young men in Nairobi is turning to sperm donation for income.
Beyond counselling, men who come to these clinics undergo a rigorous eligibility screening. It begins with a detailed form that captures a wide range of personal and medical information.
Donors are asked to indicate their tribe, blood group, height and weight, eye colour, hair colour and texture, skin tone, and educational background.
They’re also asked to list hobbies, and to disclose whether their family has a history of diabetes, cancer, or other hereditary conditions. This information helps clinics assess genetic compatibility and health risks, and also aids potential recipients in choosing a donor based on preferred characteristics.
Once collected, the sample is first analysed under a microscope by trained laboratory technologists or embryologists, who assess key parameters such as sperm count, motility, and morphology to determine the quality of the sample.
Determining quality is relatively straightforward; to simplify it, if there’s movement, it’s considered good. The sperm samples are siphoned into small tubes, called straws, and stored in large vats for cooling. From there, they are packed into smaller tanks and shipped off to clinics and individual women locally or even around the world.
