Canada's ideal sperm donor is older, generous and already a dad. Above all, he wants to donate his semen free of charge.
With Canadian sperm stocks dwindling and new regulations coming into force that hamper the import of semen from the United States, Health Canada is trying to figure out how he can be recruited.
Since paying for Canadian sperm is illegal, most fertility clinics in this country purchase semen from the United States, where men are paid up to $100 (U.S.) per specimen, and women are paid thousands of dollars for harvested eggs.
It's a legal loophole many fertility clinics are using in order to provide sperm to infertile couples. But that loophole is about to close.
The Assisted Human Reproduction Act banned the sale of gametes, or sperm and ova, in 2004, but regulations to govern those laws are still under development.
When some of those regulations come into force as soon as next year, the flow of U.S. semen into Canadian fertility clinics could be cut off, forcing sperm banks to find altruistic donors in their own backyards, says Francine Manseau, a senior Health Canada policy analyst.
It's an issue Health Canada is taking seriously.
The government will release a consultation paper in the fall that outlines what kinds of expenses donors should be compensated for - such as travel costs - that could help sweeten the deal, since they can't be paid for semen or eggs.
"What we're trying to do is provide support," Ms. Manseau says.
Health Canada commissioned a study in 2004 that looked at recruitment tactics used in other countries where payment for gametes is already banned, such as Sweden and France.
The study identified methods such as education campaigns, word of mouth and advertisements.
The report also identified an ideal candidate for the job.
"He seems to be more mature," says Jean Haase, a counsellor from a London, Ont., fertility clinic who co-authored the report. "Maybe he's the same person who would think about donating a kidney."
While many young donors in other countries are financially motivated, falling into the stereotype of the university student looking to earn beer money, altruistic donors often have their own children and can sympathize with the hopes and desires of infertile couples, Ms. Haase said.
One man contacted her at the London Health Science Centre, saying he had just become a father to twins and wanted to help other parents before he had a vasectomy. Another called saying he was the offspring of a donor and wanted to follow in his unknown father's footsteps.
Still, the question remains: Will Canadians be lining up to give away their gametes?
Not many, predicts Dr. Tamer Said, who oversees the sperm bank at ReproMed Ltd. in Toronto, one of only a handful of sperm banks still operating in Canada.
Immediately after Canada's ban on donor payment began in 2004, many sperm banks moved south of the border. ReproMed stayed put in Toronto, but immediately lost half of the 40 sperm donors on its roster, Dr. Said says. He cites the lack of payment for donors as the reason.
And despite recruitment ads in newspapers, bus shelters and professional publications, new donors are down from an average of 20 applicants a month to only a couple, he says.
"We can't get new ones, so we can't replenish the inventory," he says.
Other experts predict a sperm shortage should the U.S.-Canada gamete transfer stops. Some warn that desperate couples will turn to the black market in order to have children. Others could become so-called "reproductive tourists" and travel to the United States in order to buy eggs, sperm or even surrogates.
But not everyone believes those scenarios. "I think some men will come forward," says Dwight Jones, who donated more than 400 semen samples during a 10-year period beginning in 1977.
He says some men donate for reasons other than cash. "One of my motivations was to confirm my own fertility," says the 63-year-old Vancouver resident, who began donating sperm at age 33. Others are narcissists who want to procreate as much as possible, he said.
