Sperm donation has made parenthood possible for thousands of families, including people facing infertility, single women and same-sex couples. But as donor sperm increasingly crosses national borders, European fertility experts say existing limits are no longer sufficient.
The European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology (ESHRE) has proposed an EU-wide limit on the number of families that can use sperm or eggs from the same donor. Its position paper, published in Human Reproduction on July 8, 2026, recommends starting with a limit of 50 families per donor and gradually reducing it to 15 families or fewer. It also calls for an EU-wide donor registry and a 20-year limit on distributing a donor’s gametes to new families.
The proposal addresses a problem that national regulations have struggled to solve: a donor may be subject to a limit in one country, while donations exported to another country can contribute to additional births.
For donor-conceived people, those children remain genetically related regardless of where they are born.
That is the central issue behind the new European recommendation.
Why Does ESHRE Want Limits on Sperm Donors?
Most European countries already have some form of restriction on how many children or families can use gametes from one donor. The problem is that the rules differ considerably from country to country, and enforcement becomes complicated when sperm and egg donations cross borders.
ESHRE argues that a sperm donor limit based only on individual countries does not adequately account for the total number of donor-conceived children.
Consider a donor whose sperm is used in several European countries. Each country may remain within its own legal sperm donor limit, while the total number of genetically related children continues to grow.
This is why ESHRE recommends a European-wide system rather than separate national limits alone.
The organisation’s position paper was prepared by a multidisciplinary expert group and reviewed by stakeholders representing donor-conceived people, donor-conceived families, fertility patients, national fertility societies, researchers, healthcare professionals and gamete banks. The initial version received 45 completed stakeholder review forms before publication.
What is the Proposed Sperm Donor Limit in Europe?
ESHRE is recommending a phased approach rather than immediately imposing its final target.
| Proposed measure | ESHRE recommendation |
| Initial EU-wide family limit | 50 families per donor |
| Long-term maximum | 15 families or fewer |
| Distribution period | 20 years from the first donation |
| Monitoring | EU-wide donor registry |
| National rules | Lower existing national limits would remain in place |
The proposed sperm donor limit applies to families rather than individual children.
ESHRE says a family may want to use the same donor for more than one child. Counting every child separately could prevent families from having genetically related siblings conceived with the same donor. A family-based limit allows that possibility while putting a ceiling on the number of separate families using the donor.
Why is 15 Families the Proposed Long-Term Limit?
ESHRE does not present 15 families as a number supported by definitive scientific evidence.
The organisation describes the recommendation as a precautionary approach. Research examining the psychological and social effects of very large donor-sibling groups is still limited, and evidence about the ideal number of families per donor remains incomplete.
The proposed 50-family starting point is intended to be more practical for immediate implementation. ESHRE then recommends reducing the sperm donor limit to 15 families or fewer as systems and registries improve.
The organisation also says the final limit should be reviewed as more evidence becomes available.
This is an important qualification because the debate is sometimes presented as though research has established that 15 families is a scientifically proven safe number. It has not.
ESHRE is recommending a cautious policy based on the available evidence and the interests of donor-conceived people.
Why are Cross-Border Sperm Donations Difficult to Regulate?
Sperm does not remain within the regulatory system of the country where it was donated.
European fertility treatment involves considerable cross-border movement of patients and donor gametes. ESHRE points to Denmark as an important example. Denmark has a national limit of 12 families, but it is also a major exporter of donor sperm. A study cited in the position paper found that 63% of donor-sperm inseminations in Belgium in 2014 used imported sperm, with Denmark being a major source.
The UK provides another example. Existing UK rules limit a donor’s sperm to treatment in 10 families. Yet more than half of sperm donations used in the UK in 2020 were imported, with Denmark and the United States among the major sources.
This creates a basic regulatory problem.
A donor may reach the permitted number of families in one country while their gametes continue to be distributed elsewhere.
Without a shared system for tracking those donations, regulators cannot easily calculate the donor’s total number of families across Europe.
What are the Current Sperm Donor Limits in Europe?
There is no single European sperm donor limit today.
Rules vary significantly.
Historical European data collected by the European IVF Monitoring Consortium found that 30 of 41 countries included in its survey had some limitation on the number of children originating from one donor. In some countries, the sperm donor limit was a recommendation rather than a legal requirement. Among countries using family or recipient limits, the numbers ranged from two families in Slovenia to 12 in Denmark in that survey.
Some examples include:
| Country | Example of national approach |
| United Kingdom | Maximum of 10 families |
| Denmark | National limit of 12 families |
| Cyprus | Limit of one child in earlier comparative data |
| Slovenia | Two-family limit in earlier comparative data |
| Netherlands | Up to 25 children in earlier comparative data |
Rules can change, and national regulations should always be checked against current legislation.
The variation illustrates why ESHRE is calling for greater coordination.
Why Does the Number of Donor-Conceived Siblings Matter?
The concern is not simply the number written in a regulation.
A large donor-sibling group can create practical and emotional questions for donor-conceived people.
Some may want to know how many genetic relatives they have. Others may want to establish contact with half-siblings or learn more about their genetic background.
ESHRE’s position paper says the wellbeing of donor-conceived people should have the highest priority when setting limits, while also taking into account the interests of prospective parents.
There is also a question of identity.
A person conceived through donation may discover through genetic testing that they have dozens of half-siblings. The experience can be very different from discovering one or two previously unknown genetic relatives.
ESHRE acknowledges that evidence on the psychological effects of large donor-sibling groups remains limited. That uncertainty is one reason the organisation recommends continued research alongside regulation.
Why Does ESHRE Want a Donor Registry?
A European donor registry is one of the most important parts of the proposal.
A registry could allow authorities and fertility providers to track how many families have used a particular donor across participating countries.
Without that information, a national limit can only show part of the picture.
ESHRE proposes that gamete banks, including non-EU banks exporting gametes into the EU, should have obligations to comply with the sperm donor limit. Donors would also be expected to declare previous donations.
The registry would need to address privacy and data-protection requirements because reproductive information and genetic relationships are highly sensitive.
Why Does ESHRE Propose a 20-Year Distribution Limit?
ESHRE also recommends that donor gametes should stop being distributed to new families 20 years after the donor’s first donation.
The reasoning is partly related to age differences between donor-conceived siblings.
If the same donor’s sperm remains available for several decades, children conceived using that donor could have very large age gaps. A 20-year distribution period would create a defined window for new families to use the donor.
The rule would not replace national restrictions. Countries with stricter limits could continue applying them.
Would Stricter Limits Create a Sperm Shortage?
This is one of the practical concerns surrounding tighter donor limits.
A smaller permitted number of families per donor means fertility clinics may need a larger pool of donors to provide the same number of treatment opportunities.
This issue already appears in some countries.
Australia, for example, has reported growing demand for donor sperm alongside tighter restrictions. Data reported by Genea Fertility showed that demand increased by 97.6% between 2022 and 2025, while some Australian jurisdictions have introduced limits of five or 10 families.
Europe would face its own supply considerations if donor limits were reduced significantly.
ESHRE’s proposal therefore involves balancing several interests:
- The wellbeing of donor-conceived people
- Access to fertility treatment
- The interests of prospective parents
- Donor privacy and autonomy
- The availability of donor gametes
- Cross-border fertility treatment
- Effective regulatory enforcement
A lower limit without sufficient donors could make treatment more difficult or expensive for some families.
What Happens Next?
ESHRE’s recommendation is a position paper, not an EU law.
The proposal would need to be considered by European policymakers and incorporated into appropriate regulatory frameworks before an EU-wide limit could become legally binding.
For now, national rules continue to apply.
The organisation’s recommendation nevertheless gives European policymakers a specific framework to consider: a starting limit of 50 families, a long-term target of 15 or fewer, a 20-year distribution period and a shared donor registry.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many families can use one sperm donor in Europe?
There is currently no single Europe-wide limit. National rules vary. ESHRE is proposing an EU-wide limit that would initially allow a donor’s gametes to be used by up to 50 families, with a long-term target of 15 families or fewer.
What is the sperm donor limit in the UK?
The UK currently limits the use of a donor’s sperm to 10 families through its regulated fertility system.
Why does ESHRE want an EU-wide sperm donor limit?
ESHRE says national limits can be undermined when donor sperm is exported to other countries. A donor may therefore contribute to families in several countries while remaining within each country’s individual limit.
What is ESHRE?
ESHRE stands for the European Society of Human Reproduction and Embryology. It is a professional organisation focused on reproductive medicine and fertility research.
Does ESHRE’s proposal apply only to sperm donors?
No. The position paper addresses gamete donors, which includes both sperm and egg donors.
The Bigger Issue
The European debate over sperm donor limits is ultimately about how fertility systems should work in a world where reproductive treatment is increasingly international.
A donor may donate in one country, have sperm stored by a bank in another and have that sperm used by families somewhere else. National rules alone cannot always capture the full number of donor-conceived people connected to one individual.
ESHRE’s proposal is an attempt to address that gap.
The recommendation does not claim that there is a scientifically perfect number of families for every donor. Instead, it proposes a common starting point, stronger tracking and a gradual move toward a lower limit while more research is conducted.
For donor-conceived people, prospective parents and donors, the details matter. So do access to treatment, privacy and the ability to understand one’s genetic origins.
The next stage of the debate will be about finding a workable balance between those interests.
Key Takeaways
- ESHRE is calling for an EU-wide sperm donor limit. The European fertility organisation proposes starting at 50 families per donor, with the long-term goal of reducing that to 15 families or fewer.
- National limits can be bypassed through cross-border donations. A donor may remain within the legal limit in one country while their sperm is exported and used by additional families elsewhere. ESHRE argues that only a cross-border system can properly track the total number of donor-conceived families.
- A European donor registry is central to the proposal. ESHRE wants an EU-wide registry that can track donor use across countries and help fertility clinics and authorities monitor compliance.
- The proposed limit is about families, not individual children. This would allow parents to have more than one child with the same donor while limiting the number of separate families connected to that donor.
- The proposal is precautionary, not based on a scientifically proven “safe number.” ESHRE recommends a 20-year limit on distributing a donor’s gametes to new families, but acknowledges that evidence about the effects of very large donor-sibling networks remains limited.
