Sperm banks? Who could have predicted they'd be exporting their product as they now do across most international borders? Ireland is an exception. The Emerald Isle imports sperm, yes, but doesn't export it. The Irish, strict Roman Catholics, don't approve of what is required of males in the making of their donations, says an Irish fertility physician.

In any case, sperm sales on the global market are said to be climbing somewhere into the range of $100 million. Only a small part of this figure is due to exports, but banks now trading internationally in sperm are mostly U.S. firms. Denmark has entered the growing market providing the sperm of blue-eyed donors for those infertile couples who been convinced that blond is best.

Denmark's Cryos International Sperm Bank, in fact, is Europe's leading source of sperm. Others, mostly in the U.S., include Xytax Corporation, New England Cryogenic Center, Fairfax Cryobank, Cryogenic Laboratories International and California Cryobank. The increase in sperm bank business is due in great part to the Internet which has helped spread knowledge of procedures. Denmark has initiated an aggressive sales program.

Donations, thanks to the growth of technical expertise, are now being tested. Such tests, depending on what they tell about donors, are increasing competition. Prospective parents want to know as much as they can about the sperm and the companies that can provide it are growing fastest.

Britain, because of local legal restrictions, is falling behind in the sperm trade. Denmark does not include such restrictions as those that have befallen British sperm. In fact, Danish donors may provide enough sperm for the makings of at least 25 children. Britain allows sperm donations, per male, only for as many as ten offspring. There have also been threats about erasing donor males' anonymity. These limitation seemsomewhat peculiar, inasmuch as they fail to take advantage of marketplace markups. British sperm donor-fees are at a mere $25. A typical month's supply on the global market costs buyers between $300 and $400, a staggering profit that Britain has apparently been content to forego.

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In the meantime, Denmark, much given to screening its sperm with great care and posing no exposure threats to its own anonymous donors, has become a select site for those with specific tastes in sperm.

The chief of Cyros International Sperm Bank, Ltd. told a financial reporter: "We feel that we can become the McDonald's of Sperm"

Genetic defects are high on the concerns-lists of prospective recipients, as are sexually-transmitted diseases. Methodologies for testing are becoming increasingly expensive as improved technologies go on sale.

The Danish firm prides itself on being able to deliver sperm with 72 hours to any locale in the world. It is also less expensive, on the whole, than American sperm. Information about American sperm donors is more readily available to U.S. buyers, however, while only the quality of anonymously-donated Danish sperm can be guaranteed by the Scandinavian bank.

Xytex, in the U.S., provides purchasers with photographs of Xytex sperm donors.