Sperm donations initially made in the UK are being exported to other countries, leading to a proliferation of half-siblings across Europe and beyond, according to a recent report. This practice, which appears to be industrial in scale, is raising ethical and regulatory concerns.
In Britain, regulations restrict each sperm donation to benefit a maximum of 10 families. However, there are no such restrictions when it comes to exporting sperm or eggs abroad, creating a loophole that is being exploited by fertility clinics. As a result, donor-conceived children are being ‘mass-produced’ in various countries, The Guardian revealed in an exclusive report.
The unrestricted export of sperm leads to a significant number of donor-conceived children abroad. These children may have to navigate relationships with dozens of biological half-siblings across Europe. “I’m not against there being more than 10 families if some are outside the UK, but 75, which some of these banks have alighted on, is a heck of a lot of relatives,” said Sarah Norcross, director of the fertility charity Progress Educational Trust, in an interview with The Guardian.
With the advent of new DNA testing options available online, donor anonymity is becoming a thing of the past. “While making contact with biological half-siblings is viewed positively but when their numbers grow, it feels unmanageable to have contact and relationships with a growing and indeterminate number of people,” noted Prof Lucy Frith of the University of Manchester.
Long-term implications
Prof Jackson Kirkman-Brown, chair of the Association for Reproductive and Clinical Scientists, explained the long-term implications: “Once you’ve frozen sperm, it doesn’t get any older. You can end up with donor siblings older than your parents,” he said, illustrating a hypothetical but feasible scenario.
Donations are “presented to donors as a beautiful gift to help someone create a family, not as ‘We’re going to maximize the number of births from your gametes and make as much money as we can from that,’” said Prof. Nicky Hudson, a medical sociologist at De Montford University.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) governs sperm and egg donations within the UK. However, “As the HFEA has no remit over donation outside of HFEA licensed clinics, there would be no monitoring of how many times a donor is used in these circumstances,” Rachel Cutting, director of compliance and information at the HFEA, told The Guardian.
Experts, including Kirkman-Brown, are urging the HFEA to enforce stricter regulations. “Data is showing that some of the children who find the really big families struggle with that,” Kirkman-Brown said. “If you believe that it’s necessary to enforce the 10-family limit in the modern world, then logically that should apply wherever the sperm is from.”
Ironically, Britain was an importer of sperm until five years ago, mainly sourcing from the US and Denmark. However, between 2019 and 2021, the UK exported 7,542 straws of sperm. The world’s largest sperm and egg bank, Cryos, even opened a unit in Manchester this April. “The European Sperm Bank, which accounted for 90% of exports, applies a worldwide limit of 75 families per donor and estimates that its donors help on average 25 families,” the report stated.
Rising egg donations
In addition to sperm donations, egg donations are also on the rise in Britain. Advances in egg-freezing technologies and an increase in payments from £750 to £986 are expected to drive this growth. “The idea of a dad to loads of children already exists in our cultural imagination. We don’t have that for women,” noted Prof Nicky Hudson. She added that this is not a concept encouraged by women, with one woman even describing it as ‘human trafficking’.
This report underscores the complexities and ethical dilemmas surrounding the global export of human gametes, highlighting the need for stricter regulations and oversight in the fertility industry.