Britain faces sperm shortage in case of no-deal Brexit
British couples looking
to conceive through artificial insemination face uncertainty if Britain leaves
the European Union without a deal because sperm would no longer be imported
from EU countries under existing legislation. Government advice published on
Thursday said Britain imported around 3,000 sperm samples from a commercial
sperm bank in Denmark last year, as well as around 4,000 samples from the
United States. The Cryos sperm bank in Denmark says it is the world's largest.
Sperm donations in Britain have fallen sharply since donors lost the right to
anonymity under a law that came into force in 2005. Britain also imports a
small number of eggs and embryos from other EU countries, amounting to around
500 last year. If Brexit talks collapse, the government said the laws currently
governing sperm imports, the EU Organ Directives and EU Tissues and Cells
Directives, would no longer apply to Britain. Fertility banks "would need
new written agreements with relevant EU establishments," the government
said, adding that this would "for the most part be a minimum burden on
industry". Avoid fake news! Subscribe to the Standard SMS service and
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22840 "UK licensed establishments that already hold an import licence to
import tissues and cells from third countries will be able to use their
existing written agreements with third country organisations as a
template," it said. But Geetha Venkat, director of the Harley Street
Fertility Clinic, told BBC radio on Friday that couples were
"panicking". Venkat said a legislative change on US sperm imports
meant these could take up to three months, while the imports from Denmark
currently take only a week. Extra paperwork could create additional costs which
could be passed on to couples, she warned. "If there is Brexit with no
deal, we do not know what is going to happen," she said.
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