Men in Sweden have avoided hospitals during the COVID-19 pandemic, leaving the country short of donated sperm for assisted pregnancies.

"We're running out of sperm. We've never had so few donors as during the last year," said Ann Thurin Kjellberg, head of the reproduction unit at Gothenburg's University Hospital.

The waiting time for assisted pregnancies was around six months before the pandemic but that has now shot up to 30 months because of the shortage of sperm donors.

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"It's stressful that we can't get a clear time or date for treatment," said Elin Bergsten, a 28-year-old maths teacher from southern Sweden.

Two years ago, Bergsten and her husband learned he was unable to produce semen and the pair immediately applied for an assisted pregnancy. 

She was due to have her second cycle of insemination before her treatment was indefinitely delayed due to the shortage.

"It's a national phenomenon," Kjellberg said. "We've run out in Gothenburg and Malmo, they will soon run out in Stockholm," she added, naming the three most populous areas of the country.

It's possible for couples to circumvent public healthcare services and pay for sperm at private clinics but if they do, they face extortionate costs of $11,785 for assisted pregnancy treatment.

Some Swedish regions have taken to social media to encourage potential male donors, but with varying results. In the meantime, the shortage lingers.

"We need to go on TV and tell Swedish men to come forward," Thurin Kjellberg said.