5 months Ago
The Medisch Centrum Kinderwens (MCK) one of the largest fertility clinics in the Netherlands, used the sperm from 36 donors against the national guideline to produce no more than 25 children per donor. More than 900 mothers were affected during this time.
Junior health minister Vincent Karremans described the clinic’s actions as “outrageous” and said it was unacceptable to keep the families in the dark. The Health and Youth Care Inspectorate IGJ is looking at whether any laws have been broken.
The clinic’s current management has acknowledged those violations but blamed them on policies imposed by former leadership. They were predicated on a donor shortage, increasing demand, and families wanting children from the same donor.
Families Not Told, Rules Broken
Since 1992, Dutch law has restricted the number of children that can be born through sperm donation to a maximum of 25 per donor to decrease the likelihood of accidental half-sibling relationships and to protect donor-child relationships. The limit is exceeded only rarely and only with informed consent.
Instead, MCK had donors sign contracts to give to 25 families, not 25 children. This oversight enabled some donors to father as many as 50 children in the Netherlands and other countries. Donors and the families of recipients were not informed of what occurred. Priamos, the donor association, said the donors hadn't known rules were being broken and that clinics must be trusted in their work.
The Donorkind Foundation called the clinic’s behavior “criminal child trafficking” and claimed, “MCK is selling the future parents, the donors, are the goods and the children the products.” Although the practice was discontinued in 2017, MCK failed to notify affected individuals or authorities of the breaches.
Broader Issues, Past Cases Emerge Others raise larger issues, as well as echoes of past cases.
The case has led to calls for an independent inquiry into the country’s fertility clinics. In a separate instance, a look at records at the teaching hospital of Leiden University found that nine donors went over the allowed limit, including one man who fathered 86 children. The review also found that certain half-siblings had different biological fathers.
It has pressed an issue of doctors inseminating women with their own sperm. By 2022, Donorkind tracked at least 10 Dutch doctors connected to such cases. Famous names include Jan Karbaat (at least 81 children), Jan Wildschut (47), and Jos Beek, to name a few (21).
In a similar case, Dutch courts in April 2023 directed that Jonathan Jacob Meijer—believed to be the father of hundreds of children via sperm donation—stop the donation immediately.
