Several fertility centres in Flanders have stopped using sperm donors from the Danish European Sperm Bank (ESB) for new patients.
In May, it emerged that 52 children in Belgium were conceived using sperm from a Danish donor who carries a cancer-causing gene. This figure was later adjusted to 55 children.
The children were born to 39 different women, exceeding the legal limit of six families per donor.
In September, UZ Brussel confirmed it no longer works with the Danish sperm bank. Now, fertility clinics such as UZ Gent, AZ Sint-Jan in Bruges, ZAS in Antwerp, Ziekenhuis Oost-Limburg, Jessa Hospital in Hasselt, AZ Sint-Lucas in Ghent, and AZ Groeninge in Kortrijk have also discontinued their use of the sperm bank’s services.
AZ Jan Palfijn in Ghent states that it only orders donor sperm from the bank in exceptional cases.
The Brussels public prosecutor’s office has launched an investigation into the irregularities surrounding the sperm samples. Criticism has also been directed at the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAGG) for failing to enforce the maximum limit of six families per donor.
Belgian Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke has requested an audit of the FAGG. The findings of this audit will be presented to parliament on Tuesday.
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