A sperm donor carrying a cancer-causing gene has allowed the conception of 67 children, ten cases of cancer detected in Europe

Fifty-two children were conceived in Belgium between 2008 and 2017 using the same sperm donor, who carried a potentially carcinogenic gene, the Belgian Ministry of Health announced on Friday in a case that involves several European countries.

According to a recent investigation by the British daily The Guardian , a Danish donor carrying a rare mutation that can cause cancer has led to the conception of at least 67 children in Europe. Ten cases of cancer have since been diagnosed . The donor, who was in good health, had no family history of the disease and had been tested in accordance with current regulations.

Alert launched in 2023

But he carries a rare gene, abnormalities in which can cause Li-Fraumeni syndrome (LFS), a hereditary disease that significantly increases the risk of various forms of cancer. The alert was raised in 2023 after cancers were identified in some of his donor children at a center in Denmark.

According to the Belgian ministry, several other countries are potentially affected: Bulgaria, Cyprus, Germany, Spain, Hungary, Ireland, Greece, the Netherlands and Poland.

In Belgium, the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products was alerted in 2023. But Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke claims he was only informed on Monday.

"This information should have been immediately transmitted to the competent minister," his services criticize.

In Belgian fertility centers, 37 families are involved with a total of 52 children born between 2008 and 2017. Not all of them necessarily live in Belgium.

However, since 2007, Belgian law has stipulated that gametes from the same donor can only be allocated to a maximum of six women .

"The six-woman rule has been exceeded at the national level and also at the level of a single center," the ministry regretted. The government declined to indicate whether and how many cases of cancer have been diagnosed.