It was found that Japan's first sperm bank, established by doctors at Dokkyo Medical University, had ceased its activities at the end of March in order to safely donate third-party sperm to infertile couples due to diseases that do not have sperm. The reason is that legislation on the "right to know the origin" of the child to be born has not progressed.
As of three years ago, about 3,2000 fertility treatments using sperm donated by third parties were performed annually at registered facilities of the Japan Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology, and 77 babies were born.
In recent years, the number of sperm donors has decreased, and many facilities have stopped accepting patients, and there are cases of purchasing sperm from individuals met through SNS, so Project Professor Hiroshi Okada of Dokkyo Medical University and others established Japan's first sperm bank to store sperm from third parties so that safe treatment can be performed. Since last year, we have been providing it to two medical institutions in Japan.
However, according to Project Professor Okada, the sperm bank ceased its activities at the end of March.
The reasons
for this include the right to know the origin of children born through sperm and egg donation from third parties, the lack of progress in legislation regarding the positioning of sperm banks,
and the continued deficit in sperm testing and facility maintenance costs.
The sperm donated so far has been stored at the university and they would like to resume their activities in the future, but there is no concrete plan.
Project Professor Okada said, "Assisted reproductive technology must guarantee the rights of not only couples suffering from infertility but also the children who have been born.