Pregnant woman cannot learn whether donor sperm breached limit

With three weeks until her due date, Tine Bjerre Elisiussen has been left uncertain over whether the donor sperm used in her pregnancy exceeded the permitted limit, DR reports. The Danish Patient Safety Authority cannot confirm or deny whether it carried out spot checks on whether European Sperm Bank sold sperm to more than 12 women per donor.

Elisiussen, 30, is expecting her first child with her wife at the beginning of October. The couple lives in Odense.

“What matters most to us as a family is the possibility of having children in a safe and secure way. That is why it is uncomfortable that this has not received the attention and oversight from the authorities that it should have,” Elisiussen said.

The couple underwent IVF treatment at Odense University Hospital. Elisiussen said it had been decided in advance that sperm samples from European Sperm Bank would be used.

The Danish Patient Safety Authority has been responsible for supervising the sperm bank since 2016. Several experts told DR that uncertainty over whether the bank was monitored to ensure donors’ sperm was not used for too many women was “a huge problem” and “really serious”.

DR reported last week that the sperm bank had been reported to the police after selling sperm from 81 donors to more Danish families than permitted.

Since then, Elisiussen and her wife have tried to find out whether they were directly affected. They have not been able to get an answer.

“We are left with the question: Was our donor used too much? We do not know. I do not think we will find out, but I will keep trying,” Elisiussen said.

The couple has several fertilised eggs in storage in case they want to have more children in the future. Elisiussen said that if their daughter’s donor was used for more than the permitted 12 pregnancies, it could lead to difficult conversations later in life.

“As parents, we are already thinking about whether our daughter might one day face a situation where she has to consider whether a partner could be genetically related to her,” she said.

Elisiussen said she did not regret using European Sperm Bank and was looking forward to meeting her daughter, but added that she was sorry the case had emerged at this point in her pregnancy.

DR asked the Danish Patient Safety Authority to respond to the experts’ criticism. The authority has so far declined to give an interview and has not responded to the criticism in writing.

European Sperm Bank has previously told DR in writing that it currently has “very robust and secure control mechanisms”.