The sperm of a man carrying a rare cancer-causing mutation was used to conceive at least 67 children, 10 of whom have since been diagnosed with cancer, in a case that has highlighted concerns about the lack of internationally agreed limits on the use of donor sperm.
Experts have previously warned of the social and psychological risks of sperm from single donors being used to create large numbers of children across different countries. The latest case, involving dozens of children born between 2008 and 2015, raises fresh concerns about the complexity of tracing so many families when a serious medical issue is identified.
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The European Sperm Bank, which had supplied the sperm, confirmed that the [rare genetic] variant … called TP53 was present in some of the donor’s sperm.
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The rare variant was not known to be linked to cancer at the time of donation in 2008, [and] would not have been detectable using standard screening techniques… .
[A European Sperm Bank spokesperson added:] “… This is also why we have proactively implemented our own international limit of 75 families per donor.”
