Politicians demand disclosure for families affected by sperm bank breaches

More than 10,000 women and children are affected by a case in which Danish sperm bank European Sperm Bank sold sperm from several donors to more families than allowed under the law and official recommendations, DR reports.

Health spokespeople from several parties say the affected families should be told by the sperm bank that their donor was used by too many families. The bank’s director has rejected that approach, while Health Minister Ida Auken (S) has not yet decided whether to require the company to contact them.

“They have the right to know that they are part of a game and an illegality,” said Jens Henrik Thulesen Dahl, health spokesperson for the Denmark Democrats.

He said the number of potential siblings could be much higher than families had expected, with 50 or 100 additional siblings in Denmark rather than 10 or 15.

Jan Herskov, health spokesperson for the Danish People’s Party, said donors should also be informed. Venstre health spokesperson Christoffer Aagaard Melson called the case “a major failure” and said families should be able to obtain clarification from the sperm bank.

DR reported that the Danish Patient Safety Authority had reported European Sperm Bank to the police for allegedly breaching the rules on how many women may become pregnant using sperm from the same donor.

Since 2013, sperm from one donor has been allowed to result in pregnancies for a maximum of 12 women. A list obtained by DR shows that 81 donors were used by more than 12 women.

Before 2013, there was no legal limit on the number of families that could use the same donor, but the recommendation was that a donor should father no more than 25 children. European Sperm Bank also exceeded that limit for 105 donors. In one case, a donor provided sperm for 110 children in Denmark.

European Sperm Bank has not contacted the affected families. The company says it cannot provide the information because it concerns the donor’s private information. The Danish Data Protection Agency told DR that it has not yet determined whether that is the case.

The health spokespeople said the rules should be changed if they prevent the families from receiving the information.

European Sperm Bank said it understood the concern and uncertainty the case could create among donors, families and donor-conceived children. The company acknowledged that fertility-sector systems had historically not been sufficiently robust, but said the limit on how many families may use the same donor had not been exceeded during the past five years.

Auken said she understood families’ concern about how many siblings they might have. She is awaiting a broader review of the fertility sector by the Danish Patient Safety Authority before deciding what information the affected families should receive.

The review was launched at the end of last year after DR reported that one European Sperm Bank donor was the biological parent of at least 200 donor-conceived children worldwide.