Cryos International

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Cryos International is a sperm and egg bank in Aarhus, Denmark. Based on the number of available donors, Cryos Internationl is the largest sperm and egg bank in the world as of September 2025. It was founded in 1987 by Ole Schou. [1] [2] The bank has outposts in Florida, North Carolina, and Texas in the United States as well as fertility clinics in Denmark and Cyprus. The bank delivers to more than 100 countries. [3] Lesbian couples and single women made up 85% of clients as of September 2025 and sperm prices varied between €40 ($48) and €1,600. [1]

Contents

Global family limits

Cryos International does not impose a fixed global limit on the number of families per donor, and this is based on sound genetic reasoning: the key concern is not the total number of families globally, but the distribution within individual communities, which is where the risk of consanguinity can arise. Their systems are designed to manage this risk effectively through geographic dispersion and national quota compliance. [4]

Cryos recognises that transparency must be balanced with the rights and preferences of all parties involved: donors, recipients, and donor-conceived individuals. Not everyone wishes to receive or share the same level of information, and Cryos respects this diversity of needs, in line with Article 10 of the European Bioethics Convention. [4]

As of 2025, Cryos is preparing to offer donors with limited global quotas of 3, 10, or 25 families. These options will be priced accordingly and may appeal to families seeking additional reassurance. However, Cryos also caution that widespread implementation of such limits could lead to reduced availability, longer waiting times, and increased reliance on unregulated markets; outcomes that would ultimately undermine safety for all involved parties. Furthermore, a strict global limit will not remove the risk of donor-conceived children inheriting a disease from a donor. [4]

Controversy

In 2021, Cryos International was the subject of scrutiny following reports from the New York Times of lax international regulations on sperm donation. [5] Dutch serial sperm donor Jonathan Jacob Meijer, accused of having between 500 and 600 children, was registered with Cryos, which does not set limits on the amount of children per donor. [5] [6] In 2019, Cryos International informed a German woman who conceived a child using Meijer's sperm that he had "donated in countries outside of Denmark, therefore breaching the contract he had with Cryos to donate exclusively to our sperm bank". [5]

References

  1. 1 2 Seed capital - The business of sperm banks, The Economist, Sep 14th 2017
  2. ↑ Sperm specialist: How one clinic is satisfying global demand, Alanna Petroff, CNN, October 21, 2015
  3. ↑ Cryos and CAN-AM Cryoservices Cement Relationship, Business Wire, August 8, 2018
  4. 1 2 3 www.cryosinternational.com https://www.cryosinternational.com/en-gb/dk-shop/private/faq/quota-reservation/does-cryos-have-a-global-family-limit/ . Retrieved 2025-09-01.{{cite web}}: Missing or empty |title= (help)
  5. 1 2 3 Mroz, Jacqueline (1 February 2021). "The Case of the Serial Sperm Donor". The New York Times . Retrieved 4 November 2024.
  6. ↑ Berg, Stephanie van Den (28 April 2023). "Dutch court bans father of hundreds from donating sperm". The Canberra Times . Retrieved 4 November 2024.
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