Column: The legal male sex worker trade is not without risks

At numerous sites around campus, color advertisements on card stock have been left offering steady income to male self-gratifiers willing to donate sperm.

For younger men who meet age, health and background requirements, that which may be considered the safest form of sex may also offer an income opportunity: a $1400 per month reward plus perks including free STD and genetic testing.

What could be easier than donating three times a week to earn so much money plus $300 each time you refer a friend? According to the xytexdonor.com website, donors are protected from legal and financial responsibility for children produced with their acceptable donation with “above average sperm count and motility.”

The old wives’ tale about masturbation leading to blindness is fiction but the act of donating semen may not be painful in the moment, but it could present problems later.

In business, doing the right thing generally means doing what is most profitable. Once sperm is donated, the donor doesn’t necessarily know how it will be used: to add to world overpopulation? Or to produce organs as spare parts? If genetic material is distributed in a small geographic area, could half-siblings unknowingly produce children with genetic abnormalities?

Many people never consider genetic counseling prior to falling in love. Without an accurate and complete family history, there is a risk for incestuous relationships to develop accidentally.