Poderá a UE estabelecer regras comuns para limitar as doações de esperma e de óvulos?
Os nascimentos concebidos através de doação de esperma estão a aumentar na Europa, mas as recentes controvérsias envolvendo os chamados "super dadores" levaram vários países da UE a pedir uma regulamentação clara e limites internacionais para as doações de esperma e óvulos.
LEIA MAIS : http://pt.euronews.com/2025/07/15/podera-a-ue-estabelecer-regras-comuns-para-limitar-as-doacoes-de-esperma-e-de-ovulos
Subscreva, euronews está disponível em 12 línguas.
00:00Donor-conceived births are on the rise in Europe and it's a cross-border business.
00:19Experts say it's because people want children when they're older, without a partner and in same-sex couples.
00:26But recent controversies surrounding so-called super donors have led some EU countries to call for common rules.
00:34We look at the medical and ethical challenges in this episode of EU Decoded.
00:39Each 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, but 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 that they have dozens of half siblings.
01:29We asked Europeans if they shared these concerns.
01:32But it's good if you know who the person is, because you don't know what the other person brings.
01:38Charakterzüge, mental things, everything.
01:41For me, this is an ethical question.
01:43What do people do with their herbivores?
01:46Actually, they should leave their life.
01:51And so, I personally think that this is a art of medicine, but it's nothing that I advise.
02:01I think that, like all of 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, especially in schools,
02:16since in Italy, practically, 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.
02:35Well, 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
03:08because it has more liberal assisted reproduction laws, so 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,
03:38which 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.
03:52So it's more and more common that children can get in touch with their half-siblings or their donor,
03:57and can be challenging for them, but also for their families.
04:01Finally, we know that there's an increasing concern among many EU countries,
04:08and 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,
04:22but there is no international limitations.
04:25So some commercialized sperm banks have their own voluntary limits,
04:30such as 75 families per donor, but others have not.
04:34So it's not uncommon that some children have more than 100 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,
04:47according to the Orbeido Convention.
04:49Commercial cryobanks earn revenues based on services related to the handling,
04:54freezing, and storage of sperm and eggs, as well as through tests to screen potential donors.
05:01Some companies have online catalogs that disclose basic donor details,
05:05such as ethnicity, eye and hair color, height, weight, and occupation.
05:11Clients can pay a higher fee to access more complete profiles.
05:15Nuestra invitada es Elena Nevado del Campo,
05:19eurodiputada del Partido Popular Europeo y miembro de la Comisión de Salud Pública.
05:24¿Hasta qué punto pueden las instituciones de la Unión Europea
05:28establecer un cupo para estas donaciones,
05:31dado que la salud es, ante todo, una cuestión de jurisdicción nacional?
05:35Tenemos un reglamento que se aprobó recientemente en el 2024 sobre normas de calidad y seguridad
05:44de sustancias de origen humano destinadas a la aplicación precisamente en el ser humano.
05:51Y ese reglamento, que es de obligado cumplimiento para todos los Estados miembros,
05:55también recoge la donación y el esperma y los ovocitos para la reproducción humana.
06:04Por 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
06:21a 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
06:44de carácter internacional, puesto que estas donaciones traspasan las fronteras
06:49también 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
07:28esas medidas de calidad y de seguridad para proteger la salud humana y la infancia.
07:34El negocio de los bancos, el negocio de los bancos, el negocio de los bancos y la infancia de los bancos
07:40y las preocupaciones de los bancos y la infancia de los bancos y la infancia de los bancos y la infancia de los bancos y la infancia de los bancos.
07:44Pero no es tan claro lo que Brasil puede hacer.
07:47Por ahora, ocho países de los bancos están llamando a Brasil para considerar una caja en el número de niños
