For prospective parents in the market for a blonde-haired, blue-eyed tot, Danish sperm markes the sale
By Newsday,
Newsday
| 06. 05. 2005
At 5-foot-11, Arnt has straight blond hair and blue eyes. He swims, runs, skis on water and snow, and works out. A law student, the 28-year-old describes himself as easygoing, a creative perfectionist with a good wit, an extrovert.
He's not advertising for a girlfriend. His sperm is for sale. Arnt is one of 50 men from Denmark whose sperm sits in one of three metal vats in Manhattan - waiting for a couple or a single mother desperate for a baby. In this case, a Viking baby.
The company, Scandinavian Cryobank, has been in business in Denmark for almost two decades. It takes credit for 10,000 babies worldwide. Two years ago, the company opened a New York office and began marketing Scandinavian sperm to infertility doctors and their patients with a sleek albeit controversial slogan: "Congratulations, it's a Viking!" Another advertisement shows a blond, blue-eyed baby and talks about his ancestors who beat Columbus to North America. "You'd better build a strong crib," the ad boasts.
Stereotypes for sale
While some think pursuing the fantasy of a near-perfect child...
Related Articles
By Katherine Long, Wall Street Journal | 07.31.2026
Kyla Simpson pulled up to the St. Johns County, Fla., sheriff’s office in a black SUV in June with two toddlers in the back seat. She had given birth to them and raised them.
“Mommy loves you, OK?” she said...
By Sophie Ryall , BioNews | 08.03.2026
A fertility doctor is being sued for using his own sperm during artificial insemination procedures without the patient's knowledge or consent.
Dr Dennis Lutz used his own sperm repeatedly when treating patient Jean Ann Nelson at the Medical Arts Clinic...
By Edward Chen, Nature | 07.28.2026
A small number of fertility clinics around the world are offering a controversial treatment: a procedure to furnish clients’ embryos with donated mitochondria as a way to increase the chances of taking home a baby.
The method, called mitochondrial replacement...
By Lauren Roberts, ABC News | 06.23.2026
Deanna Carr's early 20s looked very different to most people's.
"While everyone was travelling Europe and doing all those great things, I was hanging out in IVF clinics," she said.
"It felt very isolating. None of my friends were going...