Beijing (AsiaNews / Agencies) - Two Chinese sperm banks have launched a controversial campaign on the popular wechat – a microblogging system widely used in the country – in an attempt to attract new donors in exchange for the latest generation of the Apple iPhone. The slogan (see pic.) reads: "'You don’t need to give up a kidney to raise cash to buy an iPhone 6s as you can get enough money just by donating sperm". The announcement was viewed 400 thousand time in four days, but no data is available on the outcome of the campaign.
The clients of the online commercial are Renji Hospital of Huangpu District of Shanghai and the sperm bank of the provincial capital of Hubei, Wuhan. The latter made it clear that seeks donors "between 22 and 45" that will be paid 5 thousand yuan (about 700 euro) per 40 ml of the product supplied.
Some medical students have published a post, slamming the campaign as " a scam." According to young people "it is wrong to use the appeal of smartphones to encourage new donations of male semen."
The issue is sensitive in China, where for decades is a controversial law on birth control was in effect that resulted in hundreds of millions of abortions (even forced) and gave rise to femicide. Deng Xiaoping’s "one-child law" to contain China's population has also created an imbalance between the sexes that gets worse every year, leaving millions of people without any chance of finding a wife or have a family.
Despite these restrictions, the economic boom of the nineties has created a new upper middle class willing to spend big money to have "tailored children". Over the years there have been many scandals in this market: from clinics illegally trading in human embryos to women - especially the lower class - forced to "rent" the uterus to wealthy couples.