It has been revealed that a no-deal Brexit can slow the flow of Danish sperm getting into the UK, but why are British women so keen on using the Scandinavian donors to get pregnant?

Despite the fact that Danish men are renowned for being tall, psychically fit gentlemen, they are not actually involved in the child’s life – but is that the whole clue?

A paper from the Department of Health and Social Care revealed on Friday that Danish semen made up almost half of all non-British male reproductive material imported to the UK with 3,000 samples last year.

Each Danish sperm donation costs £450-a-go if you buy online (Picture: Getty Images)

But the ‘viking baby’ invasion didn’t start until 2005 changes in law banned sperm donors from being anonymous in Britain, which led to a rapid decline in British sperm donors.


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If a British man donates his sperm he should be prepared that any resulting offspring have the right to contact them after turning 18.



And any donors, including those willing to be contacted, are never recognised as a legal parent, are not named on a birth certificate and have no right to trace their offspring.

However, most women seek donors who are willing to be reached out to – so despite Danish men being offered the anonymous option, there are simply more Danish than British donors who are happy to be contacted.

There is a lack in British sperm donors (Picture: Getty Images)

Managing Director of Danish clinic Cryos, which has the world’s largest selection of sperm donors, Ole Schou has previously told the Evening Standard that a ‘shortage of sperm elsewhere, combined with differing rules about donor anonymity from country to country, mean that Denmark, which can offer both anonymous and non-anonymous sperm and can deliver it directly to individuals across the EU rather than simply to licensed clinics, is an increasingly popular destination for women seeking to become pregnant.’

Men must be aged between 18 and 40 to donate sperm. They have to attend the clinic twice a week for three or four months and be screened for genetic abnormalities, sperm quality and checked for any infectious disease.

In 2015, the BBC reported that just nine men were registered as sperm donor after the opening of Britain’s national sperm bank in Birmingham.

They received £35 per visit to the sperm bank based at Birmingham Women’s Hospital, after it received a £77,000 grant from the Department of Health.

Danish clinic Cryos has the world’s largest selection of sperm donors and specialists who primarily focus on British clients

With a lack in British Donors, Denmark Cryos clinic has seen a huge increase in interest from the UK the past few years and have even hired staff who only deal with British clients.

Their website says: ‘We have two types of sperm donors: Anonymous and non-anonymous.

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‘If the donor is anonymous, Cryos will never reveal the donors identity and the client has to agree to never attempt to contact the donor.’

But, if the donor isn’t anonymous the sperm bank will give out his name, last known address and ID number, but in the end it will be up to the child if he or she wants to contact the donor.

So, despite some British suggesting that they’re ‘offended’ by women choosing Danish sperm, it turns out that the main reason UK women turn to Danish donors is because there is simply a lack of British ones.

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