Information about the number of families per donor at Livio

Based on discussions surrounding donors and the number of genetic half-siblings in social media and various forums, we want to use this Q&A to answer some of the questions that may arise in connection with this. 

Since its inception, Livio has operated a donor recruitment program of the highest quality and standard, aiming to recruit more donors in the Nordics to help more couples and women have children. 

We understand the concerns that have been expressed, even though this is not a new phenomenon—it has looked the same throughout the years for patients undergoing donation treatment. Regardless of which private clinic (and even some public ones) is chosen for donation treatment, the donor may have given rise to genetic half-siblings, even outside Sweden's borders. 

Previously, Swedish women were forced to travel abroad, mainly to Denmark, for donation treatment, and when the law changed in Sweden (for single women in 2016, and IVF with donated gametes in 2019), Swedish clinics used Danish sperm for treatment. Livio, as the only private actor, has focused on recruiting Swedish donors with the aim of reducing the need for imported Danish sperm and enabling Sweden to become self-sufficient. 

The number of families per donor is regulated by legislation and strict guidelines in the countries where we operate today—and where we hope to operate in the future. Beyond national guidelines, we at Livio have also chosen to limit the total number of families for a donor to 25 globally. In practice, this means that if the donor quotas are used up in the Nordic countries, the donor cannot be used any further in other countries. 

Since 2019, we have actively recruited and screened donors within Livio. We have never marketed the sale of sperm; we only advertise for donors as there is still a large shortage of both egg and sperm donors. About half of the sperm used at Livio still comes from other sperm banks, not Livio’s own—we are not yet self-sufficient. On request, we are always open with information about which bank the donor sperm comes from, and this is also clearly stated in the written information patients receive. 

Questions and Answers 
How many families are Livio’s donors allowed to help create children in? 
6 in Sweden, 6 in Norway, 2 in Iceland (5 in Finland and 12 in Denmark). Livio has its own restriction: a maximum of 25 families per donor worldwide. 

Which countries do you market to? 
We do not market or advertise the sale of sperm in any country. However, we recruit donors via advertising in all the countries where we operate. 

How do you keep track so there aren’t more than 25 families, and how do you control this? 
Careful monitoring of reporting from all clinics using Livio’s sperm or eggs is fundamental for a gamete bank—and thus for us. This control is managed via our medical records system and highly specific reporting routines. 

Livio, of course, reports just as carefully to the external banks we use. 

For your treatments, how many use sperm from Livio’s own sperm bank and how many use sperm from other banks, such as the European Sperm Bank? 
About 50% of all sperm used at Livio comes from the Danish sperm banks. 
Donors from Livio’s own sperm bank are subject to stricter rules regarding the total possible number of families. 

Other 
We conduct ongoing quality work to improve our methods and practices within donation activities. Recruiting donors is a laborious process with significant drop-off in the end. We hope that interest in becoming a donor will continue to grow and remain strong! 

Generally at Livio, we invest heavily in research and development, both in our own research company and through cooperation with university hospitals, to be able to develop our medical methods as much as possible and to offer everyone longing for children the most effective and safe treatments possible.