If you really really need cash the viral postings all over Facebook these days seem to say you can get $35,000 by giving your testicles to science. Is this true? Would you be willing to do anything to pay back money you owe?
What caught us on to this story was the viral story from a website called Now 8 News who also aired a story “Wendy’s Employee Arrested For Putting V** Discharge On Woman’s Burger”. So we had to do some research on this.
The News 8 site reported that you could Donate a Testicle and the payout for this is $35,000. That if you “Need some EXTRA CASH? If you want to help the science community and line your pockets with a little bit of money there are some unconventional ways to do this by selling your body to science.”
They got it right on the blood plasma and reproductive fluids and possibly laying in bed for insomnia testing but not at $18,000.
They really got it wrong for donating a testicle for over $30,000.
According to Snoopes.com:
In November 2013, Las Vegas resident Mark Parisi claimed, in anticipation of appearing on an upcoming episode of TLC’s Extreme Cheapskates program, that he was hoping to garner $35,000 by participating in a medical trial during which one of his testicles would be removed and replaced by an artificial one. But that plan did not involve the sale/donation of a testicle (researchers were only interested in the effects of removing it and replacing it with a prosthetic testicle, not in keeping or using it), it was a one-time trial (rather than an ongoing program in which anyone could participate), and there have been no subsequent reports indicating medical researchers and Parisi actually went through with the trial. Nonetheless, this item is often erroneously cited as an example of how one can make “$35,000 by donating a testicle.”
It sounds like there should be lots of places across the U.S. to be able to donate plasma, blood, or body parts to bring in some extra income if we are really down on our money. Their may be a black market for actual illegal body parts in countries such as Philippines or Thailand. Here are some of the prices you may see:
Medical Transcription created a infographic that showed parts to be shockingly cheap. Like would you want a new shoulder or a new iPad? Both cost 500 bucks. Some organs are really expensive such as a kidney. That would cost you maybe $262,000 in the US but other countries have it for cheaper.
Pair of Eyeballs: $1,525
Scalp: $607
Skull with Teeth: $1,200
Shoulder: $500
Coronary Artery: $1,525
Heart: $119,000
Liver: $157,000
Hand and Forearm: $385
Pint of Blood: $337
Spleen: $508
Stomach: $508
Small Intestine: $2,519
Kidney: $262,000
Gallbladder: $1,219
Skin: $10 per square inch