Project R-5083

Sperm Banking in Belgium: Medical, Ethical and Economical Aspects (Research)

The need for a high-quality sperm bank in our country is growing. Where in the past the use of donor sperm was restricted to hetero couples with an infertile husband (azoospermia or severe teratozoospermia) or when the male partner carried an inheritable genetic disease, nowadays also more lesbian couples and single women call for donor insemination to fulfil their wish for a child. Moreover, Belgium faces a large influx of foreign patients because of restrictive laws regarding donor insemination in our neighbouring countries (Netherlands, United Kingdom, Germany and France). For example, in the Netherlands and the United Kingdom, anonymous sperm donation is no longer allowed, and the treatment of single women and lesbian couples is forbidden in Germany and France. Furthermore is the excellent location of Genk in the Euroregion an important opportunity for Dutch and German patients. However, Belgium faces a shortage in sperm donors. Sperm donation is still too much of a taboo, because it is almost systematically associated with paternity, both by the donor and his partner. However, this is unjustified because the Belgian law guarantees absolute anonymity of the donor, and this before, during and after the donation. At the moment, Belgium has thirteen sperm banks that are hardly able to provide for their own use. Therefore, 82% of the Belgian centres for Reproductive Medicine imports donor sperm from foreign sperm banks. The two largest sperm banks in Europe are Danish (Cryos International Sperm Bank and Nordic Cryobank), which results in 63% of all artificial pregnancies with donor sperm in Belgium originated with Danish donor sperm. Moreover, according to the Belgian legislation of 2007 only six different women can become pregnant from a single sperm donor, a limit that does not apply in Denmark.

16 September 2012 - 15 September 2016