A 54-year-old Danish man named Henrik has been sentenced for an unusual crime – voluntarily donating his sperm so that women could become pregnant.
Henrik is alleged to have donated sperm to women in at least five separate cases, but because he did not follow rules laid out in national legislation called the Tissue Act, he faces a fine of 25,000 Danish Krone, around 3,360 euros. If he refuses to pay the fine, he has to spend 14 days in jail.
The case emerged after Henrik had created a website on which he offered women the use of his sperm, injected via a syringe, in order for them to become pregnant. He told news site DR that in his view he did not feel he had done anything illegal and that he only wanted to help people to have families and to be a father himself.
He also pointed to the fact that if he had sex with the women, there would have been no legal issue. However, if the sperm is delivered in a syringe, then it is a breach of the Tissue Act. The Tissue Act specifies that in Danish law “testing, processing, preservation, storage and distribution of tissue and cells may only be carried out with the permission of the Danish Health Authority.” In addition, the person donating sperm must be approved to do so by the national Agency for Patient Safety.
Henrik had met the women and given them fresh sperm in a tube, which they could then inject into themselves. He said that if the women had been heterosexual, than perhaps they would have had sex, but in these cases the women were lesbians and therefore he wanted to respect that. He added that the women get full custody of the children but that he keeps in touch with them and the kids, and he does not ask for money for his contribution.
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