No-deal Brexit 'could leave couples with heartbreak' due to sperm shortage risk

Emilio Casalicchio

Couples turning to fertility clinics in a bid to have children could be left with “heartache” if a no-deal Brexit results in a lack of sperm, pro-EU campaigners have warned.



The Government said today that crashing out of the EU without a deal in March 2019 could pose a risk to the thousands of sample donations imported to the UK from the continent each year.

In a technical notice about the impact of a no-deal Brexit, it said sperm banks operating in Britain would have to strike new deals with exporters on the continent to ensure a steady supply.

A spokesman for the Best for Britain campaign told PoliticsHome: "If you weren’t scared by the prospect of a no deal Brexit before, you sure as hell should be now.”

The spokesperson added: "How many people thought about the implications of Brexit on sperm?

“But in reality thousands of people rely on commercial sperm banks to be able to have a family.

“No deal Brexit not only could make people poorer it could also mean real heartache of not being able to have children.”

The details about sperm imports in the event of a no-deal Brexit came in a technical notice about the quality and safety or organs, tissues and cells from the Department of Health.

It said: “The UK imports donated sperm, primarily from commercial sperm banks in the USA and Denmark.

“Approximately 4,000 samples were imported from the USA and 3,000 samples from Denmark in 2017, as well as a small number from other EU countries.”

And it added that if the UK quits the bloc without a deal, UK licenced establishments would have to “make written agreements” with European exporters.

But it noted that those already importing sperm from outside the EU could use their existing agreements as a template.

The Government said imports of eggs and embryos are “far less common” than those for sperm.

In 2014 the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority said nearly one in four donated sperm samples was from abroad.

Britain had become increasingly reliant on international imports amid a fall in domestic donations.

The Government noted that only a small number of organs are shared between the UK and other countries, and the UK shares tissues and cells with third countries more than it does with the EU.