Several fertility clinics around India are actively helping couples to have children of their own through in-vitro fertilisation (IVF) or artificial insemination, a process where sperm is introduced into a female’s uterus.
But this process might get expensive since the price of sperm in India has gone up by 50% to 100% in the past five years, and will soon touch Rs 10,000 for a single vial. In the past five years, it has gone up to Rs 2000 to 5000 from Rs 1200 to 1500.
While the rise in India is not as tremendous as in the US, where a vial of donor sperm now costs $370 to $890, as compared to $200 a decade back, the prices in Indian clinics vary due to the absence of a central monitoring body to regulate the collection and sale of donor sperms, Broadly. reports.
A single vial of donor sperm lasts one cycle of IVF, while two to three cycles are required for a couple to conceive. Meanwhile the prices are even higher for sperms obtained from donors with a medical or engineering degree in metros, while prices and expectations are lower in small towns.
IVF specialist from Mumbai Dr Anirudh Malpani told The Times Of India that, “couples are willing to pay more for samples that have been thoroughly tested, and for specifics such as an IIT education or height of six feet or more.”
The reason for the rise in prices seems to be new ICMR guidelines, which require sperm banks to test samples for HUVm hepatitis B and C, hypertension, diabetes, STDs and other genetic disorders. These tests go on for six months, and clinics which also carry out in house tests charge more.