– Every year we have to approve between 20 and 25 new donors for sperm donation. If we manage to do that, we could have a shorter waiting time. Last year we managed to bring in 18. That’s what Peter Fedorcsak, head of the reproductive medicine department at Oslo University Hospital, says. He says that the rules around donating sperm are strict. – Each donor can only give to six families. This means that the sperm bank is constantly in need of new donors. Sperm donation Photo: Roy Pettersen / Roy Pettersen To be approved as a donor, you must tell us about yourself. You must also tell about your own and your family’s physical and mental health. You will also be tested for any infectious diseases to ensure they are not passed on to mother or child. Sperm donors must be over 18 years of age, and should be between 25 and 45 years of age. It can be an advantage to have children of your own, but it is not a prerequisite. Donors must be in good health, both physically and mentally. No known serious hereditary diseases or conditions in close family. Have good sperm quality that can withstand freezing. Each donor is expected to show up 10-15 times to donate sperm. Children of sperm donors have the right to know who the donor father is when they turn 15. Today there are two public sperm banks in Norway. At Oslo University Hospital and St. Olav’s Hospital in Trondheim. Source: Helsenorge.no / St. Olav’s hospital They also have a shortage of donors at the other public sperm bank in the country. When the bank at St. Olav’s hospital in Trondheim started up in 2020, they received a large amount of deposits. Now only a few sign up. SOUNDPROOF: The room that sperm donors use at St. Olav’s hospital is soundproof, and good hand hygiene is encouraged. Photo: Sverre Lilleeng / news – We have a lot to go on, but we still need donors, says senior doctor Camilla Kleveland. – What consequences does it have for you? – We are in danger of using them up. They currently have no waiting list in Trondheim. This has meant that women and couples from all over the country seek help there. Attitudes – We lag a little behind other countries, especially Denmark. There is still a lot of taboo around sperm donation in Norway today, says Katinka Thors. She is head of FEMA, the Association for Voluntary Single Mothers in Assisted Fertilisation. Thors believes that many Norwegian women go to private clinics because the waiting lists at Oslo University Hospital have become long. In addition to the donor shortage, something else has happened. Because in 2020 the Biotechnology Act was changed. Then single women were also allowed to receive sperm donation and assisted fertilization. – The fact that there has been a completely new group has of course put a lot of pressure on the already long queues for public treatment, says Thors. Katinka Thors went to Denmark before it became legal for assisted reproduction for single people in Norway. She is currently head of FEMA, with just over 400 members. Photo: Mathias Emil Olsen Thygesen / news There are some men who travel from afar to Trondheim to donate sperm. The only problem is that there should have been even more of them, according to Kleveland at St. Olav’s hospital. – There are an incredible number of very altruistic people around who are keen to help others, says Kleveland. Danish sperm The public hospitals only use Norwegian sperm. This is not the case with the private clinics. Livio in Oslo is Norway’s first private sperm bank, and from this year has offered assisted fertilization with Norwegian, Icelandic and Swedish sperm. In contrast to the public hospitals, they experience interest from Norwegian men. – We find that many men contact us to become a sperm donor, says clinic manager and gynecologist Nan B. Oldereid. Clinic chain Medicus only offers Danish semen. – It is because we have an agreement with a Danish sperm bank. It has nothing to do with recruitment, says fertility coach Mari Fevaag Heger at Medicus. – Conservative Norwegians are generally conservative when it comes to bioethics, says professor and philosopher Einar Duenger Bøhn at the University of Agder. – It feels foreign to many, and especially in Norway where we are a bit traditional, and many want to have children in the traditional way. It probably has something to do with that attitude. Philosopher and professor Einar D. Bøhn believes that many people are positive about sperm donation, but that they do not want to do it themselves. Photo: Caroline Tolfsen / news – When you give up your semen, it probably feels untraditional and unnatural to have children running around that you don’t know where you have. It can be felt as pointless to make lots of children and give them away to others. He believes sperm donation will become more common in a few years. – As with many other things, the stigma will decrease over time.
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Drought in Norwegian sperm banks – singles and couples need more sperm donors – news Sørlandet – Local news, TV and radio
