Overview
- A cross-European investigation led by Danish broadcaster DR reports at least 197 children conceived with sperm from an anonymous donor known as “Kjeld.”
- European Sperm Bank was first alerted in April 2020 by a cancer case in a child; an initial test missed the rare TP53 alteration and sales briefly resumed.
- After further cases, retesting showed sperm mosaicism in the donor, and the bank blocked his samples in late October 2023.
- Between 2006 and 2022, the sperm was distributed to 67 clinics in 14 countries, and Danish authorities count 99 births from treatments in Denmark.
- The bank says the previously undescribed TP53 variant is confined to a small fraction of the donor’s sperm, so not all children are carriers, and experts link the mutation to Li-Fraumeni syndrome with very high cancer risk for those affected.