Blood, Plasma, and Sperm Banks

The barriers to entering the ambulatory health services industry are lower than you would think.

Tweet

Corbis

As technological advances allow a broader palette of life-saving surgeries, the organ and blood reserves that make these operations possible will continue to be in demand.

Blood and organ banks make up 55 percent of the $23.8 billion ambulatory health services industry, and the financial barriers to entering this field are relatively low, despite some regulatory hurdles. Perhaps a more surprising growth category in this industry is the increased demand for sperm donation. This is largely because a number of European countries have passed legislation that prevents sperm donors from remaining anonymous or receiving compensation.

This leads to a severe drop in supply, and now "you have all of those infertile people buying sperm from U.S. cryobanks," says Corey Whelan, the program director for the American Fertility Association.