A Danish sperm bank has introduced IQ requirements and demands for law-abiding behavior for men who want to donate sperm to it. This was reported by Danish Radio.

The Danish sperm bank Donor Network in Aarhus allows women and couples who want children to choose a donor based on qualities such as IQ, ethnic background, height, and eye color.

However, the sperm bank guarantees one thing in all cases. And that is that all donors have no criminal record and have an IQ of at least 85.

Not an Elite Project

Donor Network’s CEO, Jakob Schöllhammer Knudsen, is a trained doctor, has a PhD, and has three children himself. He argues that his company is not an “elite project”, but at the same time, it is important which genetic traits are passed on to future generations.

– I just don’t think it’s ethically right to sell something you can’t stand for, says the father of three to Danish Radio.

– There is a much greater risk of having a mentally handicapped child if you have a child with a donor who has a low IQ, he points out.

Schöllhammer Knudsen points out that high IQ correlates with good education and high income later in life. That it is simply an important piece of the puzzle to do well in life.

– I don’t think it’s controversial at all, he says, noting that about one in five potential donors are screened out due to the requirements.

Anger from Sweden

Not surprisingly, the Danish sperm bank is facing reactions – from the other side of the Sound. Daniela Cutas is a lecturer in medical ethics at Lund University and questions Donor Network’s business ethics.

Cutas does not think it is wrong to screen donors for serious hereditary diseases. However, she believes it is wrong to screen out criminals and mentally handicapped individuals from the sperm bank.

– A person with a high IQ can be unhappy, antisocial, or prejudiced, just as a person with a criminal record could have been a very well-functioning member of society if circumstances were different, she claims.

Donor Network lists about 80 donors, whose sperm can be purchased through the company’s website. Most of them are Europeans. Only one has African origin and one comes from East Asia.