Cryos of Denmark, the largest sperm bank in Europe with a catalogue of more than 400 donors, is one of the most popular among French lesbians.

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Richard, who had not thought about having children, also had to think about his future fertility and decided to have some of his sperm stored in a sperm bank before he started chemotherapy.

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When California Cryobank, which claims to be the world's largest sperm bank, opened its doors in the late 1970s, 99 percent of its business catered to couples grappling with male infertility, spokesman Scott Brown said.

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They revealed Mr Beatie - a former Hawaiian beauty queen - had conceived by artificial insemination, carried out with a syringe by his wife in their home, with sperm purchased from a bank.

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