(CRI File photo)

    BEIJING, Oct. 21 (Xinhuanet) -- The demand for sperm in China will probably always exceed the supply.

    This is according to Dr. Li Zheng of the Department of Andrology at Beijing's Renji Hospital. He says more than 300 couples are already on the waiting list for sperm and in-vitro fertilization (IVF) at his hospital, even though this kind of procedure will not be available until authorized by the government at the end of the year.

    After the Renji Hospital applied for the required licence, its IVF technology was checked last month by the Ministry of Health.

    Another four local hospitals, including the Ruijin Hospital, the No. 1 Maternity and Infant Health Hospital and the International Maternity and Infant Hospital, are also on the applicant list.

    According to a survey, about 10 per cent of the city's three million couples of childbearing age are infertile, one third due to male infertility. Furthermore, among every 100 cases of aspermia - sperm shortage - between one to five men have severe infertility.

    Most of these men will have to rely on IVF technology to become fathers.

    Most experts believe the declining quality and quantity of human sperm in recent decades is due to environmental pollution.

    (CRIENGLISH.com)