An international investigation by the BBC and 13 other European public broadcasters has revealed that four children in Greece carry a dangerous mutation traced to a Danish sperm donor whose samples were distributed to seven fertility clinics across the country.
The issue first came to light in November 2020, when a Greek paediatric cancer specialist identified the TP53 mutation in three siblings conceived via IVF using sperm from the same donor.
One of the children has reportedly already developed cancer.
In 2023, the same doctor detected the mutation in a fourth child conceived from the donor’s sperm.
The Danish man has fathered at least 197 children across Europe.
The mutation causes Li-Fraumeni syndrome, a rare disorder that carries up to a 90% lifetime risk of developing cancer, particularly in childhood and later-life breast cancer. Some children conceived from the donor’s sperm have already died.
Source: Ekathimerini.
