Fifty-three children were conceived in Belgium using sperm from a Danish donor carrying a gene linked to cancer, Federal Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke told a parliamentary commission on Wednesday.
Initially, the minister and the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP) had announced that 52 children were conceived in Belgium thanks to this donor.
Of the mothers affected, 37 were treated in Belgian fertility centres. Fourteen of these women reside in Belgium, 17 live in France, two in the Netherlands, one in Germany, one in Italy, and one in South America. The last woman, who experienced a miscarriage, has not had her place of residence disclosed.
Minister Vandenbroucke opted not to reveal the list of fertility centres where children were conceived with the Danish donor’s sperm.
Based on information from the FAMHP and fertility centres, Belgian parents of children conceived through assisted reproduction who have not yet been contacted need not worry about this issue, Vandenbroucke assured.
