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. Pri.