In an attempt to circumvent laws in Denmark which ban the sale of eggs, the Cryos International Sperm Bank is offering “wellness holidays” to prospective donors, who will then make a donation in return.

“I don’t see anything unethical in it,” Ole Schou, head of the sperm bank, told Danish paper Jyllands-Posten of the fertility-facilitating getaway. “The Danish rules are absurd and detrimental and on top of that it is discriminatory that here you can sell sperm but not eggs.”

Although Danish law allows male sperm donors to be financially reimbursed for their contribution, much more stringent laws apply to the money paid to female donors than is allowed elsewhere in the European Union.

Despite being the world’s largest sperm bank, management at Cryos have been forced to set up foreign locations to work around their homeland’s strict legalisation.


“We want to help the childless, but we are also a private company and therefore we need to sell eggs in order to make money,” Schou said. “And if we can’t do it in Denmark, they we have to do it somewhere else.”

Social Liberals parliamentarian Marlene Borst Hansen told Jyllands-Posten offering women any further incentives were potentially unethical.

“We stand behind the legislation we have in Denmark, because we do not believe that egg donation must be a business,” she said of the criticism that has inspired the so-called “wellness holidays”.

It is an ethical dilemma many countries grapple with. Only last month it was reported City Fertility Centre would offer donors $5000, a suggestion that drew criticism as it is the first time an Australian company has provided financial reward.

While it is illegal for a woman to sell her eggs in Australia, a loophole allows that costs incurred in medical or travel expenses may be covered.

The Victorian government is now investigating the IVF chain’s offer with a spokeswoman for Health Minister Jill Hennessy telling The Age the minister had “some concerns about content included on the website of Egg Donors Australia and City Fertility Clinic, in particular their reference to reimbursement of costs.”

Seems unlikely Australian donors will be enjoying their own “wellness holidays” any time soon.
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