‘They treat men like vending machines’: inside the hidden world of social media sperm selling

A man going by the name “Rod Kissme” claims to have “very strong sperm”. It may seem like an eccentric boast for a Facebook profile page, but then this is no mundane corner of the internet. The group where Rod and other men advertise themselves is a community where women and couples come, in many cases, to fulfil a lifelong dream: parenthood.

There is a growing number of online sperm donor groups on social media. They offer people the chance of parenting children in an unregulated, dangerous but surprisingly straightforward way.

Membership of groups such as Sperm Donors UK, Start a Family Here and “Get Your BABYDUST Here!” are thriving. This is due, in part, to the prohibitive cost of the official route – through a Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) regulated clinic.

For those who do things by the book, the costs can easily run into tens of thousands of pounds, especially if they do not become pregnant at the first attempt.

Lengthy delays and shortages of donors from certain religious backgrounds or ethnicities also drive many towards...