To conceive nearly 200 children worldwide, an investigation by the country’s public broadcaster DR revealed, it was used by a Danish donor who carried genetics that increase the risk of developing .
“At least 197 children were born using sperm from an anonymous Danish donor known as Kgeld, before the sperm bank discovered a serious genetic abnormality,” said DR, which conducted the investigation in collaboration with 13 other European public broadcasters.
The European Sperm Bank (EBS), a leading Danish sperm bank and one of the largest in the world, was notified in April 2020 that a child conceived through sperm donation and , the broadcaster added.
A sample of the donor’s sperm was then tested, but the test did not reveal the rare mutation of the gene in question, TP53.
Instructions for parents
According to the National Authority for Medically Assisted Reproduction, because the possibility cannot be ruled out that the future biological offspring of the said donor will show clinical symptomatology related to Li-Fraumeni Syndrome, the Supervisory Board of the National Authority for Medically Assisted Reproduction has decided on the universal prohibition of the disposal and use of reproductive material of the said donor in the future and the implementation of actions by the Medically Assisted Reproduction Units regarding recipients who have undergone full cycles of medically assisted reproduction with the donor’s reproductive material.
More specifically, the attending physicians after informing the recipients in writing to request the sending of data regarding the outcome of said cycles of medically assisted reproduction. In the event of a live birth, treating physicians should request recipients to provide information on the general health of their offspring and data from neonatal and/or pediatric follow-up.
They should also recommend targeted molecular genetic screening of newborns to determine whether they carry the variant of unknown clinical significance (VlJS) c.325T>A p.(Phe10911e) in the TP53 gene, which the given donor carries.
According to the information we have received so far, 18 children have been born in Greece with the donor’s reproductive material (there are families with more than one child).
It is noted that the donor had undergone the necessary tests in accordance with the legislation of the country of origin, which does not provide for the test for the specific rare hereditary mutations in the gene in question.
67 clinics in 14 countries
Donor sperm sales, which had been suspended during the trials, continued.
Three years later, the sperm bank was informed again that at least one child born from donation had the mutation and was diagnosed with cancer. He then tested several sperm samples, which showed that the donor was a healthy carrier. His sperm disposition was blocked at the end of October 2023.
Between 2006 and 2022, this sperm was sold in 67 clinics in 14 countries, according to DR.
In Denmark alone, 99 children were born thanks to this donation.
“This particular mutation is a rare and previously unknown alteration of TP53, which is only present in a small fraction of the donor’s sperm and not in the rest of his body. The donor himself is not affected,” the European Sperm Bank said in a statement.
The mutation could not be detected through previous genetic testing and not all children conceived through this donation carry it, the company said, noting that it has contributed to the birth of more than 70,000 children worldwide in the past 20 years.
Many European countries have national regulations limiting the number of offspring per donor – 12 in Denmark and 10 in France – but there are no international regulations governing the number of children a donor can have abroad.
At the end of 2022, the European Sperm Bank set a maximum number of 75 families per donor.
