Illegal Sperm Donor Agency Busted in UK: No More Special Deliveries?

(CBS/AP) Need sperm?

There's an app for that - a website, actually. But authorities shut it down last year, and the two men who ran it out of a basement in England are now on trial for illegally trading in human gametes.

Prosecutors say Nigel Woodforth and Ricky Gage earned 250,000 pounds ($386,000) running the web-based fertility service, which paired women seeking to have a child with anonymous sperm donors. The men did not have a license to distribute sperm, as required by English law.

The site operated under various names, including Sperm Direct Limited and First4Fertility, Reuters reported.

Nearly 800 women paid to use the service, which let them choose donors based on ethnicity, height, and hair color. They could even choose on the basis of a donor's hobbies, according to Reuters.

Women could then contact the donors directly and arrange to have the sperm delivered to their homes. The sperm could be used for self-insemination or in vitro fertilization.

Woodforth and Gage were arrested as part of a sting operation in April, 2009.

The men deny the charges, arguing that they simply ran an introduction service.