Denmark has become known as the sperm donation capital of the world, exporting donor sperm to more than 100 countries, according to an explainer published by The Local Denmark.
The piece traces the trade to freezing technology introduced in the 1950s, which made it possible to screen, store and ship samples. A public sperm bank supplied Danish, Norwegian and Icelandic clinics from the 1970s, and private banks such as Cryos International later built large commercial donor catalogues.
It says Danish firms adapted quickly when other countries changed their rules, for example by recruiting both anonymous and identifiable donors after the UK and Norway ended anonymity in 2005. Demand now comes mainly from single women and same-sex couples, and in Belgium and the Netherlands an estimated 60 per cent of donor-conceived children were conceived with Danish sperm.
Source: The Local Denmark
