Rent is due -- yesterday. Your credit card seems to be malfunctioning. Angry notices from the electric company line your walls with threats of darkness, your girlfriend left you for some guy with a BMW, and your parents quit returning your calls. \nYou're broke. \nShort of begging door-to-door, how can a 20-something with no time for a job come up with cash when even the couch fails to turn up change for the laundromat? \nTake a deep breath, rally some courage and look in the mirror. There, in the reflection, lies a veritable goldmine for the non-squeamish, the extremely giving or the very desperate. \nMore and more students and non-students alike are beginning to realize and take advantage of the potential income involved with selling one's body -- everything from hair to sperm -- for science. \nFor those who have a money-headache and an open mind but are somewhat nauseated by the idea of illegal organ sales (a healthy kidney can allegedly pull some $20,000 on the black market) there are three possible routes to pursue on the body market -- unpaid donation, including blood and hair, compensated donation, which includes plasma, sperm or egg donation and the legal sale or rental of a body part through something like the hair trade or acting as a guinea pig for medical science.
Human lab rats\nAlthough college students are often the most in need of a way to use their bodies for bucks, there are not a lot of options in Bloomington. To participate in a lucrative medical research study at GFI Research Center in Evansville, at least one trip to the facility -- and possibly an overnight stay -- is in order. But the more inconvenient the trial seems, the higher the payoff usually is.\nCurrently, GFI is looking for healthy, 18 to 45-year-old females with regular menstrual cycles, who do not use hormonal contraception, to stay at the Center for 37 days and 36 nights in a row and make 16 additional outpatient visits to complete the study. But while this experiment might be a pain for IU students as the Center is located more than two hours away, there is a stipend of up to $6,820 waiting for them in the end. \nGFI also offers other less time-intense studies with corresponding compensation, usually somewhere between $100 and $2,000 a trial. Regardless of any hassle, GFI currently boasts a 25,000-volunteer strong database of people wishing to be a part of the process. But if that kind of travel isn't feasible, research universities like IU often need volunteers for studies and are willing to pay.\nNot just anyone can step in and grab that cash though. GFI and similar institutions have strict qualification processes, the smallest tenet of which is fitting the specific criteria necessary for the study. Medical history is often important, as well as past behaviors or actions. Qualifying gets even stickier when reproductive efforts are involved.
'Baby-making fluids'\nDon't bother beginning the sperm or egg donation process if you have a family history of genetically linked disease, are at risk for sexually transmitted diseases or are an alcoholic. Infertility clinics in Indianapolis and agencies like Surrogate Mothers, Inc. in Monrovia, Ind., can get the ball rolling, but the process can take a long time -- three to four weeks for women, not including completing the application -- and donors can be disqualified at any time. \nBut the ethical undertones inherent in helping create a life while simultaneously giving up all rights to that life are more important than inconvenience to some.\n"Ethically, I wouldn't agree with it," said junior Nick Cattin of cashing in on his body's baby-making fluids. "I don't like the idea that my biological child would be out there without my knowing anything about it. I might consider helping a close friend or relative who is infertile, but I would never do it for money." \nAlthough Cattin is torn by his desire to help those in need, his conscience keeps him away from the quick 40 to 200 bucks he could make for each sperm bank visit.\nWhile both sexes receive compensation for helping the infertile, the single or the homosexual conceive, women can make much more dough from their limited supply of eggs than men can with their endless sperm by as much as $2,000. Collecting the eggs is much more complicated than getting a sperm sample, but in either case, there is no guarantee someone will want a donor's chromosomes at all. \nScientists advise potential donors to keep in mind a future parent's ideals have to match his or her genetic offering for the process to come to fruition. Aspects like the donor's athleticism and intelligence can come into play, not to mention desirable physical attributes or family history.
Liquidation sales\nWhether the problem is qualifications or an ethical wrestling match, sperm and egg donation may not be for everyone. A quicker, less emotionally-involved idea for selling what's on the inside is just a quick drive and a needle away on Bloomington's west side.\nLike many students and Bloomington residents, freshman Hannah Mills is a frequent plasma donor at the BioLife facility located at 430 S. Landmark Ave. Mills started donating in January after a family member let her in on this particular shortcut to extra money. \n"I have a high pain tolerance and no problem with needles, so it's no big deal," Mills said. "It burns a little when it goes back in, but it doesn't really hurt." \nThe plasma donation process is more complicated than a simple blood donation and takes more time -- about three hours for the initial donation, including screening and a physical -- but can be applied to more forms of aid than simple blood. During the extraction, whole blood is taken from the donor's arm, the plasma (the liquid part of the blood) is separated and then the unneeded portion is returned to the donor via the same needle.\n"I go every couple weeks, if I have time," Mills said. Although she enjoys knowing her plasma will soon be on its way to someone who needs it more than she, Mills is also frank about her intentions. "I donate blood to help people. This is for the money."\nBlood donation is more widespread than plasma at IU. The annual IU vs. Purdue Blood Donor Challenge, for instance, is a popular way the University and the Red Cross come together for a good cause and rustle up school spirit. Last November, IU and Purdue brought more than 5,000 donations, combined.
A less hairy alternative\nFor the queasy student who wants to help the ill, there is one unique option absent of blood or needles. Locks of Love, a non-profit organization devoted to providing hairpieces for children with medical conditions, accepts 10 inches of hair or more from men and women of all ages and ethnicities.\n"It was enough of a spur-of-the-moment decision that I didn't have time to talk myself out of it," said junior Claire Nienaber, who parted with a foot of hair about a year ago. \nBecause Nienaber was quite attached to her long tresses, she was initially nervous about the choice. But her fears were eventually outweighed by the charity. \n"I'm actually growing my hair out now so I can donate again."\nIf quick cash without actual work is still a priority, but plasma and blood donations are too nauseating, or egg and sperm donations are too complicated, there are still other money options like selling the hair on your head. \nOtherwise, it might pay to check underneath that couch cushion a little more carefully.\n-- Contact staff writer Jenny Davis at jeedavis@indiana.edu.
