Michael got home from work to his studio apartment at 6:00pm, exhausted. He was 24 years old and in his first year of teaching high school English. He always wanted to be a teacher, and it was his passion, but he was currently hating life at the moment.
The pay sucked. He had a bachelors degree in English education with a music minor, and a master's degree in reading literacy. He worked long hours, tutored after school for peanuts, and had no social life. And he was barely pushing at making 40,000 per year.
He put his TV dinner in the microwave, and of course the microwave quit working. "Fuck," he said, and he immediately ordered take out, even though he was broke.
"This is what I get for wanting to be a teacher?" He thought bitterly. He absolutely loved his job, but he was struggling paying the bills. He even had to have his grandmother chip in to pay the deposit on his shitty apartment.
After his Chinese food was delivered (comfort food) Michael decided to check his professional networking account. Maybe another employer could provide him a part time job at least, so he could cover the bills. He hated the thought of having his grandmother help him out again.
When he opened the site, he saw a message. "Hmm, maybe this can be my much needed break." He thought.
The first thing that came to his mind was that this proposal was for an online teaching job or maybe editorial work, but it was far from that.
He read the message "NI sperm donors wanted at the Sungate clinic. Click the link to enquire within."
He had to google what a "NI sperm donor" was, and his mouth gaped. Surely this place couldn't be serious. But then he looked at the "rates" for services. 150.00 per insemination, or 500.00 for a monthly commitment per client.
Well, that was a hell of lot more he was getting for tutoring 1 hour after school (at 50.00 extra measly dollars per week, before taxes) and he began to get intrigued. He never thought he could even be considered a job like the, and he still thought it was a joke, but he submitted his information to the employer anyway, mostly just to see what the response would be.
"This is stupid," he muttered, and turned on the TV. He watched Rupaul's drag race until he fell asleep on the couch.
The next morning was a Saturday, and Michael woke up around noon. He was still exhausted, totally forgetting about his submission to the Sungate Clinic the night before. But then he checked his phone, and it had a message from the professional networking site.
"Hello Michael, this is Cheryl, the office manager at the Sungate Clinic. We would like for you to come in for an interview. Please call the number at the end of this email if you are interested."
Michael still thought his proposition was bogus. I mean, he would be used to help people get pregnant, the natural way? And get paid for it? And why him? Although he admittedly had a breeding fetish, his previous boyfriends and girlfriends (he was bi) got off on that sort of thing, but to do it for real? He was still skeptical, but he wrote back to Cheryl that he was interested. After all, bitch needed the money, desperately.
Cheryl asked if he could make it to 2:00pm interview, and Michael responded with a "yes." He still thought this was joke, but his mind was intrigued, and he wanted to see what this place was all about.
The office space was small, but it was well decorated with very modern fixtures. A woman who he assumed was Cheryl sat at a desk. Michael took a few breathes and entered the space, not knowing what the hell he was getting into.
"Hello, can I help you?" Cheryl asked. She looked to be in her 60s but had a very friendly smile.
"Um, yes I Michael Bate. I have an...interview?" He sputtered out.
"Oh, yes, Michael! They are waiting for you. This way". Cheryl led him down a hallway to what looked like a meeting room.
Michael entered, and was instructed to sit down by another woman, who introduced herself as Dr. Assif. She had a man sitting next to her, who was wearing a white lab coat.
"Hello Michael, nice to meet you!" Dr. Assif stated, and acknowledged the man sitting next to her as her husband.
"Hello." Michael simply said. "So you're clinic. The Sungate Clinic... is?"
Dr. Assif cut him off. "I know you have apprehensions. I can see it in your eyes. But this is a legit clinic, that provides sperm donors to clients. Natural insemination is what we specialize, which is what people come to us for. We mostly deal with people that have gone the IVF route with no success, but we also service a lot of clients that turn to us that can't afford surrogacy or IVF."
Michael thought for a bit. "I see, but why did you contact me? I didn't even know that this was a thing."
"We screen professional networking accounts. Cheryl, our secretary, does the scouting. We then offer the job opportunity to people like you, who is someone people want out of a sperm donor. Smart, educated, and clearly, healthy."
Michael thought of her response, and although he wasn't a muscle gym rat, he took care of himself. He was 5'9, 150 pounds, with light brown hair, hazel eyes, and glasses.
Dr Assif said "we of course will screen you for health reasons, blood tests, sperm count and so on."
"But I wear glasses, won't that be a deterrent?"
"In our experience, no. Most of our clients will like the fact you have multiple degrees and a teacher. And I'm sure your IQ..."
Michael cut her off. "Ok, I'm interested. So the pay. How does that work? And how is that arranged?"