Thursday, March 1, 2012

Sperm bank shortage

One of the oddest consequences of the United Kingdom's BSE epidemic of the 1990's has been the United States ban on sperm from Scandinavia.

In September 2003 the Food and Drug Administration banned the import of donor sperm from 30 countries, where Mad Cow disease has been detected in cattle - despite the fact that most scientists believe it is virtually impossible for vCJD to be spread through sperm.

Up until this point Scandinavian sperm had, apparently, been the most popular choice for US sperm bank customers who frequently seek blond haired blue eyed babies. Although the ban was enacted in 2003 it didn't really attract much attention until 2007 and 2008 when sperm banks ran out of their stocks of Scandinavian sperm.

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