If the credit crisis has lopped jobs and put a spanner in industry, there are other kinds of enterprise taking over. Before this fall, for instance, not too many people thought of making money on their sperm.
With the economy squeezing Americans’ budgets, some people are looking for creative ways to pay their monthly bills
NEW YORK: If the credit crisis has lopped jobs and put a spanner in industry, there are other kinds of enterprise taking over. Before this fall, for instance, not too many people thought of making money on their sperm. A Seattle student confessed to minting his “personal assets” to take care of rising bills. “I did it because I’m a student and I’m broke,” he said, having spent several minutes in a small room at a sperm bank last
month.
He’s not alone and there are other body fluids in question. A variety of body products are up for sale – sperm, eggs, blood plasma, even human hair – all from desperate householders struggling to make ends meet.
Industry officials say they are seeing an increase in people selling body fluids, tissues and other parts for payments that can range from $20 to $50 a pop for blood plasma to $60 to $100 for a shot of sperm, $200 for a shiny ponytail and up to $7,000 for a fertile egg.
Selling hair on the Internet is just one of those unusual methods. “We’ve seen about a 20 percent increase in the last four months,” said Jacalyn Elise, co-founder of The HairTrader.com, referring to the number of ads offering hair for sale posted on her site.
“These days, some people are just in need of money.”
Desiré Henriksen feared that there would be no Christmas for her two boys. She had lost her job at Denny’s, where she worked the graveyard shift. Her fiancé, who works as a glazier, was having a hard time finding regular work. And the couple fell behind on the mortgage last month. So she cut her hair and sold it on the Internet to a hair trader in the Netherlands.
“Everyone was telling me how beautiful my hair was,” the 27-year-old said. Her friends suggested she sell it. “I thought, ‘Why not? I’ll check it out,’ “ she said. “We’re trying to keep our place here,” she said. Henriksen was paid $1,200 for 27 inches of her tresses.
But most hair is sold for about $300 to $900, says Marlys Fladeland of Hairwork.com. The hair is used to make wigs or hair extensions or is used in artwork. In addition to buying presents for her 10-year-old son and 3-year-old stepson, Henriksen paid off the overdue mortgage bill.
Others are taking more drastic measures, becoming medical guinea pigs. Paul Clough, 30, fell on hard times five years ago. A homeless man suggested that Clough take part in medical clinical trials, and now it’s his full-time gig. Clough estimates that he brought in $28,000 this year by participating in seven medical trials, having his blood taken 500 times and ingesting about a dozen medications. He has tested everything from cholesterol-lowering drugs to hepatitis C and HIV treatments. He even set up a Web site, Just Another Lab Rat, which explains how and where to volunteer.
The test subjects may be required to stay at a clinic or may have to visit the clinic a few times. They are paid $50 to $5,000 each time.
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