Nearly 200 kids conceived worldwide from sperm donor with increased cancer risk

A sperm donor, who is an asymptomatic carrier of a genetic mutation increasing the risk of cancer, was used to conceive nearly 200 children worldwide, Denmark’s public broadcaster revealed on Wednesday.

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Between 2006 and 2022, the man’s sperm was sold to 67 clinics in 14 countries. In Denmark alone, 99 children were fathered by the donor.

“At least 197 children were born thanks to the sperm of an anonymous Danish donor using the alias Kjeld before the sperm bank discovered a serious genetic abnormality,” public broadcaster DR reported.

According to DR, Denmark’s European Sperm Bank, one of the largest in the world, was alerted in April 2020 that a child conceived via donation and diagnosed with cancer carried a genetic mutation.

It then tested a sample of the donor’s sperm, but the screening did not detect the rare TP53 mutation.