Nordic Sperm Shortage: US Bans Imports Due to Mad Cow Disease

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The discussion centers on the shortage of Nordic sperm due to U.S. restrictions aimed at preventing the spread of mad cow disease, which has led to a desperate situation for individuals seeking to conceive using specific donors. The sperm bank has run out of vials from a popular donor, prompting some prospective parents to travel to Europe or negotiate with others for remaining vials. The high demand has resulted in inflated prices, with some willing to pay over $2,000 for a vial that typically costs less than $500. Participants in the conversation express frustration over the situation and humorously discuss the potential for branding sperm, referencing names like "Finn" and "Olaf." The dialogue also touches on the absurdity of the current sperm market and the implications of health regulations on donor availability. Overall, the thread highlights the intersection of reproductive technology, health policy, and the lengths individuals will go to in order to achieve parenthood.
  • #31
Moonbear said:
If these women want Nordic sperm, they could always get it the old fashioned way. :rolleyes:
Hang around York and wait to get ravished by some invading vikings?
 
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  • #32
The ladies can have my sperm, in Germany mad cow disease never was such a big problem as it was in England. They only would have t

MOOOOOOOH !
 
  • #33
As far as I remember mad cow disease wasn't much of a problem in the UK. Only a handful of cases per year.
 
  • #34
Kurdt said:
As far as I remember mad cow disease wasn't much of a problem in the UK. Only a handful of cases per year.

ooopsie... mixed this up with foot-and-mouth ! Hm... mixing things up...memory getting weak... are these the symptoms ? :eek: :eek: :eek:
 
  • #35
Kurdt said:
As far as I remember mad cow disease wasn't much of a problem in the UK. Only a handful of cases per year.
Yes, but i can't give blood in the US/Canada - because I lived in the UK.
And ironically I couldn't give blood in the UK because I had visited the USA where everybody has west nile virus!

How a prion is going to get into washed IVF sperm anyway is a mystery.
 
  • #36
Oberst Villa said:
ooopsie... mixed this up with foot-and-mouth ! Hm... mixing things up...memory getting weak... are these the symptoms ? :eek: :eek: :eek:

Yeah, they're the symptoms, but I can't remember for what. :confused: :rolleyes:
 
  • #37
PF may be missing out on a cash flow-----it can be in the business of supplying the 'Brain Sperm' shortage


And if the PF sisters started donating, who knows?
 
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  • #38
Kurdt said:
You'd want a Finn if you were going Scandinavian. They can drive better. :biggrin:

so, when they're done 'supplying'---are they 'Finnished'?

Evo said:
Arildno could make a fortune. He's brilliant, he's Norweedish.

and, for some reason, when I think of a donor with that ancestory, I think of the word 'squeegeed'
 
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  • #39
In Finland fairly recent legislation forbids anonymous finnish donors. This has caused a very significant drop in the amount of donors and a real Nordic sperm shortage. These days sperm is imported from Denmark and women go there to get treatments.
 
  • #40
Do they pay for sperm donation?
I can see a possible way for Iceland to bail (or another four letter word) itself out of bancruptcy.
 
  • #41
mgb_phys said:
Hang around York and wait to get ravished by some invading vikings?


I've been trying for two months to come up with a Norwegian Wood joke. I got nothing. :frown:
 
  • #42
I've been trying for two months to come up with Norwegian Wood. I got nothing.
 
  • #43
tribdog said:
I've been trying for two months to come up with Norwegian Wood. I got nothing.

um.. you're talking about shopping at Ikea, right?
 
  • #44
no I'm talking about my flaccid penis.
Now wait a minute, is this something that's going to get me another demerit? I'm balancing on the edge as far as those things go.
 
  • #45
tribdog said:
no I'm talking about my flaccid penis.
I think that's the name of a chair in IKEA!
 
  • #46
mgb_phys said:
I think that's the name of a chair in IKEA!

:biggrin:
I can almost picture it.
:redface:
 
  • #47
I thought it was a bean bag. :confused:
 
  • #48
mgb_phys said:
Do they pay for sperm donation?

No. The same law says that it is forbidden to pay to finns for sperm but obviously sperm banks pay for imported stuff. However, it is still cheaper for the donor than finding a recipient in a bar and doing it the old fashion way.

mgb_phys said:
I can see a possible way for Iceland to bail (or another four letter word) itself out of bancruptcy.

Last I heard one sperm can costs around 500€ for the end user. There clearly is a market.