Thousands of Belgian babies have a Danish biological father

Of the 8,000-9,000 artificial inseminations that take place every year in Belgium, about 63% use the sperm of Danish donors, leading to the birth of some 600 to 900 babies per year. The Danes have a more open mentality towards sperm donation, making it easy for fertility centres worldwide to import their sperm, according to fertility expert Willem Ombelet.

"The number of babies to come from Danish sperm continues to grow, and not only in Belgium," Ombelet points out. "The whole world is largely supplied by Danish sperm. Danish sperm banks are well organised and provide a good quality, but it does raise the question whether this is a desirable development."

"The mentality is very different there," explains Ombelet. "In Denmark sperm banks are allowed to advertise. In Copenhagen you'll even see publicity bikes riding around in the shape of a sperm. Belgium has a long way to go in this aspect.”