Guangzhou is home to a growing underground sperm donation market, according to local newspaper Xinkuaibao.

The report cited a sperm donation "broker" saying that it would take just an hour to complete the whole process of artificial insemination, in which the semen would be directly injected into the recipient through a syringe. The broker claim there would be no need for an anesthetic, and the rate of success is about 30 percent.

Fertility specialists have responded to the reports, saying that those who undergo this primitive method of artificial insemination are at high risk of infection. According to experts, the success rate is only about 10 percent.

The report also outlined the black market sperm donation process. Women with fertility problems log onto online "sperm donation" chat rooms to seek help. Often, brokers use the chat rooms to link the women up with donors. The broker then organizes a meeting between the two parties, where the donor gives the woman his semen preserved in an ice cube and she will inject herself with it immediately. However, it is believed that some donors also directly have sex with the women.

The women pay up to 30,000 yuan (about US$ 4,900 ) for a sperm donation, while the donor receives an amount ranging from 500 yuan (around US$ 82) to 3,000 yuan (around US$ 490).

According to China's Ministry of Health, any sperm donation and artificial insemination done in private is illegal. The only legal channel for sperm donation is recognized sperm banks. But due to a lack of doctors and the increasing number of women looking for donors, the underground market has surged. Around 40 million Chinese suffer from fertility problems, or around 12.5% of the population aged between 20 and 49, according to a Xinhua report.

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