Source The Guardian
World’s biggest sperm bank calls for fewer regulations to revive Europe’s childbirth rates
The world’s biggest sperm bank has warned the EU that access to donor sperm must be improved to reinvigorate childbirth rates amid the continent’s slump in population growth.
Sperm banks across Europe have closed after the enforcement of new EU regulations on staffing levels, executives at the Danish firm Cryos International told European commission officials in a private meeting.
Some member states’ insistence on making the identity of donors traceable was cited as a further obstacle to access, released minutes reveal. The executives also raised the 2011 decision by the Danish courts to treat sperm as a “good” liable to VAT. Donor sperm is subject to as much as 25% VAT in some EU countries.
