The US’s latest export to Brazil: sperm

Brazilians want blue-eyed babies so they’re buying sperm from the US:

Demand for American Sperm Is Skyrocketing in Brazil

Over the past seven years, human semen imports from the U.S. to Brazil have surged some 3,000%, with most buyers selecting donors whose online profiles suggest they will yield light-complexioned and preferably blue-eyed children.

Blond, blue-eyed guys are in demand,

The preference for white donors reflects a persistent preoccupation with race in a country where social class and skin color correlate with glaring accuracy. More than 50% of Brazilians are black or mixed-race, a legacy of Brazil having imported more than 10 times as many African slaves than the U.S.; it was the last Western country to ban slavery, in 1888. The descendants of white colonizers and immigrants—many of whom were lured to Brazil in the late 19th and early 20th centuries when the ruling elite explicitly sought to “whiten” the population—control most of the country’s political power and wealth.

In such a racially divided society, having fair-skinned offspring is often viewed as a way to provide a child with better prospects, from a higher salary to fairer treatment by the police.

And don’t forget market forces:

Imports are rising in part because many Brazilians simply don’t trust the national product. Unlike in the U.S., it is illegal to pay men to donate their sperm here, so domestic stocks are low and information about Brazilian donors sparse.

I see a marketing opportunity for Scandinavians, too.

You can calculate the odds for eye color here.