Introduction to Sperm Donation
Sperm donation allows women to become mothers when this might not otherwise be possible – if their partner is infertile, they are in a same-sex relationship or they are parents alone. Meeting this need has become big business. It is estimated that the market in Europe will be worth more than £2 billion by 2033, with Denmark being a major exporter of sperm.
The Challenges of Sperm Donation
If you’re a man, the quality of your sperm probably isn’t good enough to become a donor – fewer than five in 100 volunteers actually make it. First, you have to produce enough sperm in a sample – that’s your sperm count – then pass checks on how well they swim – their motility – and on their shape or morphology. It is also checked whether the sperm can survive freezing and storage in a sperm bank. You could be perfectly fertile, have six children and still not be suitable.
The Rules of Sperm Donation
The rules vary around the world, but in the UK you also have to be relatively young – between 18 and 45; be free of infections such as HIV and gonorrhea and not be a carrier of mutations that can cause genetic diseases such as cystic fibrosis, spinal muscular atrophy and sickle cell anemia. Overall, this means that the pool of people who ultimately become sperm donors is small. In the UK, half of the sperm is ultimately imported.
The Popularity of Certain Sperm Donors
From this small donor pool, some men’s sperm are simply more popular than others. The donors are not selected at random. It’s a similar process to the cruel reality of dating apps, when some men get many more matches than others. Depending on the sperm bank, you can browse photos, hear their voice and find out what profession they do – engineer or artist? – and see their height, weight and more.
The Rise of "Viking Sperm"
Denmark is home to some of the largest sperm banks in the world and has earned a reputation for producing “Viking babies.” Ole Schou, the founder of sperm bank Cryos International, says the culture around sperm donation in Denmark is very different to other countries. “The population is like a big family,” he says, “these topics are less taboo, and we are an altruistic population, many sperm donors also donate blood.”
Sperm Donation Across Borders
An aspect of the examination of a sperm donor is how their sperm is collected at the European Sperm Bank in Denmark and then sent to 67 fertility clinics in 14 countries. Nations have their own rules about how often a man’s sperm can be used. Sometimes it is tied to the total number of children, others limit it to a certain number of mothers. The original argument over these boundaries was to prevent half-siblings—who didn’t know they were related—from meeting, forming relationships, and having children.
The Need for Regulation
Concerns have been raised about the impact on children conceived through sperm donation. Some will be happy, others may be deeply disturbed by the double discovery of being made with donor sperm and being one of hundreds of half-siblings. The same goes for donors, who often have no idea their sperm is being distributed so widely. These risks are compounded by readily available DNA ancestry testing and social media where people can search for their children, siblings or the donor.
The Future of Sperm Donation
In response to the investigation into the sperm donor who passed on a gene that led to cancer in some of the 197 children he fathered, officials in Belgium have called on the European Commission to set up a pan-European sperm donor registry to monitor cross-border sperm transport. The European Society for Human Reproduction and Embryology has also proposed a cap of 50 families per donor across the EU. This system would still allow more than 100 children to be created using a donor’s sperm if families wanted two or more babies each.
