Sperm donations on the increase

The number of sperm donations received by fertility centres in Belgium has more than doubled in a year, reports La Libre. Traditionally, the number of sperm donors has been low in Belgium compared to neighbouring countries and waiting lists for artificial insemination were very long:  women who wanted to undergo in vitro fertilisation often had to wait several months. “Those long waiting lists are no longer the case,” men’s health specialist Benny Verheyen of the University Hospital of Antwerp told Het Belang van Limburg today. “Anyone who comes for treatment must obviously undergo a battery of tests first. Once these have been made and the patient is ready, treatment can, in principle, begin immediately.” Several campaigns have helped increase the number of sperm donors in Belgium. “Men are also more likely to freeze their sperm before undergoing a treatment against cancer,” Dr Verheyen said.