L'UE peut-elle établir des règles communes pour limiter les dons de sperme et d'ovules ?
Les naissances issues de dons de sperme sont en hausse en Europe, mais des controverses récentes impliquant des « super-donneurs » ont poussé plusieurs pays de l'UE à réclamer une réglementation claire et des limites internationales concernant les dons de sperme et d’ovules.
00:30Each EU country sets a maximum number of children born from a single donor.
00:45This can range from 1 in Cyprus to 15 in Germany.
00:50Some member states prefer to limit the number of families that can use the same donor.
00:55Sweden and Belgium limit this to 6, but Denmark allows up to 12 families.
01:02There is no limit for international donations, however.
01:05There are commercial cryobanks that set voluntary limits,
01:08but as many as 75 children have been conceived by the same donor.
01:12These super donors increase the risk of unwitting incest and the spread of genetic abnormalities.
01:20There is also concern about the psychological harm to children who could find out later in life
01:26that they have dozens of half siblings.
01:29We asked Europeans if they shared these concerns.
01:32But it is always good if you know who the person is.
01:36Because you know what the other person brings with characters, mental things, everything.
01:42For me is that a ethical question.
01:44What do people do with their land?
01:45Well, I think that they should leave their life and that's why I personally think that this is a science of medicine,
01:58but it is nothing that I prefer.
02:02I think that, like all the important aspects, it will be regulated in the best way possible, in a clear way.
02:09I think that this is something that should be more regulated and that there is more information,
02:14especially in schools, since in Italy there is no point of talking about this.
02:19Euronews' reporter Amandine Hess is here with me now to help us delve deeper into this issue.
02:25Amandine, we've had reports recently of some very controversial cases of sperm donors, particularly in Europe.
02:33Tell us more about some of these cases.
02:34Well, a few weeks ago it has been reported that a Danish donor who was unknowingly carrying a rare genetic mutation
02:41that increases the risk of cancer had helped conceive at least 67 children in Europe
02:47and 10 of them have been diagnosed with cancer.
02:50And then there is the issue of super donors who help conceive dozens or even hundreds of children.
02:56And it raises concerns because it increases the risk of consanguineous relationships among donor-conceived individuals.
03:03And finally, 50% of egg donation treatments take place in Spain because it has more liberal assisted reproduction laws.
03:12So patients travel there for treatments.
03:14But there are some questions on the ethical implication of commercialised egg donation.
03:20There's also the question of anonymity of these donors.
03:23Tell us what the situation is on that across the European Union.
03:26And what are some of the ethical questions that arise from this?
03:30For instance, sperm donation is anonymous in Italy, but it's not the case in the Netherlands.
03:35And in some countries such as Austria, it's semi-anonymous,
03:39which means that sperm donation is anonymous only between the donor and the recipients.
03:43Now, because of DNA testing and social media, donors' anonymity can no longer be 100% guaranteed.
03:51So it's more and more common that children can get in touch with their half-siblings or their donor and can be challenging for them, but also for their families.
04:02Finally, we know that there's an increasing concern among many EU countries and that they're trying to propose solutions to this.
04:10What are some of the options on the table right now?
04:12Some member states limit the number of children per donor.
04:17Others prefer to limit the number of families per donor to allow them to have biological siblings, but there is no international limitations.
04:26So some commercialised sperm banks have their own voluntary limits, such as 75 families per donor, but others have not.
04:34So it's not uncommon that some children have more than a hundred half-siblings.
04:39So this is the kind of situation that this proposal would prevent.
04:43The human body and its parts cannot generate financial profit, according to the Orbeido Convention.
04:49Commercial cryobanks earn revenues based on services related to the handling, freezing and storage of sperm and eggs,
04:57as well as through tests to screen potential donors.
05:00Some companies have online catalogs that disclose basic donor details, such as ethnicity, eye and hair color, height, weight, and occupation.
05:11Clients can pay a higher fee to access more complete profiles.
05:15Our invitation is Elena Nevado del Campo, eurodiputada of the EU, member of the EU, member of the EU, member of the EU.
05:24What point can the institutions of the EU establish a cup of these donations, since the health is, above all, a question of national jurisdiction?
05:35Tenemos un reglamento que se aprobó recientemente, en el 2024, sobre normas de calidad y seguridad de sustancias de origen humano,
05:47destinadas a la aplicación precisamente en el ser humano.
05:51Y ese reglamento, que es de obligado cumplimiento para todos los Estados miembros,
05:56también recoge la donación y el esperma y los ovocitos para la reproducción humana.
06:03Por lo tanto, yo sí que creo que podemos establecer un marco más global,
06:08con la prudencia que la propia Comisión Europea, a través de doña Sandra Galina, ha señalado.
06:15¿Ve usted útil la creación de registros nacionales, que contribuían luego a un registro central europeo para donaciones transfronterizas?
06:25Muchas leyes a nivel nacional ya prevén el establecimiento de estos registros,
06:32pero realmente muchos no se han puesto en marcha.
06:37Iría más allá, casi que por una cuestión de ética, deberían establecerse registros de carácter internacional,
06:46puesto que estas donaciones traspasan las fronteras también de la propia Unión Europea.
06:52Las empresas que recolectan y comercializan esperma y óvulos afirman que faltan donantes.
06:58¿Cuál podría ser el impacto de establecer nuevos límites?
07:02Estamos hablando de la protección de la infancia y el derecho a saber si a través de estas respuestas,
07:11dada la baja natalidad que azota también a Europa, puede dar lugar a transmisión de algún tipo de enfermedades.
07:19Por lo tanto, frente a esta actitud de los bancos, tenemos que ir más allá y pensar que hay que establecer esas medidas de calidad y de seguridad
07:31para proteger la salud humana y la infancia.
07:34El negocio de los bancos, el negocio de los bancos, probablemente continúe a avanzar,
07:39pero las preocupaciones médicas y éticas significan que nuevas reglas son necesarias y rápidas.
07:44Pero no es tan claro lo que Brasil puede hacer.
07:47Por ahora, 8 países de Europa están llamando a Brasil para considerar una caja en el número de niños que puede ser concebida de un donor.
