Desperate times call for desperate measures. Since the economy began to crater, Americans have looked inward to their very bodily fluids for a boost, selling blood, semen, even their ovaries and hair for a few extra dollars.

Companies that buy and sell blood have spotted an uptick in blood donations and created marketing campaigns that encourage people to give blood in exchange for help beyond just some extra cash.

A blood bank in California is catering to those hit hardest by the economic crunch, offering career counseling to that state’s thousands of unemployed individuals in exchange for a pint of blood. […] “It was definitely like: Give blood, get your resume critiqued. Yeah, I can make that drive. That works for me,” Steve Koehler, an out-of-work accountant from San Jose told affiliate KABC at the Stanford blood drive.
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In Chicago, Robin von Halle, president of Alternative Reproductive Resources, an agency that pairs egg donors with infertile couples, said several of the clinics in the area have reported an increase in women looking to donate. […] On average donors make $7,000 to $10,000, with larger sums paid to women in wealthier regions of the country, such as the Northeast.