Sperm bank reported to police after exceeding Danish family limits

European Sperm Bank sold sperm from 81 donors to more women than permitted under Danish law, according to the company’s own records, DR reports. The Danish Patient Safety Authority has reported the company to police.

The sperm bank is currently the only party that knows the identities of the affected donors.

When DR asked European Sperm Bank director David Truels Hansen whether the donors had been informed, he initially questioned why they should be. He also said that complying with the law was the company’s responsibility, not the donors’.

Several former donors told DR that they do not know how many children have been born using their sperm, either in Denmark or abroad, because European Sperm Bank handled its distribution.

One of the men, who is identified only by his first name as Sebastian, said he was concerned about how his donations had been used.

“Am I one of those whose donations were used within the permitted limits, or am I above them? And if that happened, why?” he said.

Director apologises for unclear comments

Hansen has not agreed to a follow-up interview. In written comments to DR, however, he said he was sorry that he had not expressed himself clearly during the phone call.

European Sperm Bank said it was not aware of any breaches of donor agreements. Hansen also said he did not know about the alleged breaches of the family limits when he became director in November 2024.

“I am genuinely affected that some donors have exceeded the family limits, and by the concern this may create for some donors, donor-conceived children and families,” he wrote.

Dispute over information for donors

DR again asked European Sperm Bank whether it would tell donors how many women in Denmark had used their sperm. The company said donors were entitled to be told only the total number of children born worldwide using their donations.

That would leave the men unable to establish whether their sperm had been sold in breach of Danish law, DR reports.

European Sperm Bank said current and former donors could contact it to learn how many families they had helped globally and how many children had been born through their donations. The company added that it would respond if the Danish Data Protection Agency reached a different assessment.

The agency told DR that a donor has the right to know how many children have been conceived using his sperm. It has not specifically determined whether that right also includes a breakdown between the number of donor-conceived children at global and national level.

Company says it takes the matter seriously

The Danish Patient Safety Authority reported European Sperm Bank to police nearly a year ago. Hansen said the company had not received or been given access to the police report, limiting how specifically he could comment on the case, but said European Sperm Bank took the situation very seriously.

European Sperm Bank was founded in Copenhagen in 2004. It supplies donor sperm to more than 1,000 fertility clinics worldwide, and says its donors have helped more than 70,000 children come into the world. The clinics are required to report pregnancies to the sperm bank.