Belgium’s Health Minister Frank Vandenbroucke has urged the European Commission to establish a Europe-wide registry for sperm and egg donors and to impose limits on the number of children per donor.
In a letter addressed to Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and Health Commissioner Oliver Varhelyi, Vandenbroucke highlighted a recent scandal involving a Danish sperm donor with a cancer-linked genetic mutation.
The donor reportedly fathered at least 197 children across Europe, 53 of whom were born in Belgium.
The minister stated that at least ten of these children have developed cancers, such as leukaemias or non-Hodgkin lymphomas, with some dying as a result of the mutation. Others face lifelong cancer screenings and medical examinations due to the genetic anomaly, he added in his letter.
Vandenbroucke has long advocated for the creation of an anonymous European registry for sperm and egg donors. Such a system would allow authorities to track where and when donations occur, helping to prevent a single donor from conceiving an excessive number of children.
The Belgian minister called for a uniform European limit on the number of children per donor or families that can use the same donor. Currently, Belgium caps this at six families, but the guideline was ignored in the case of the Danish donor.
Vandenbroucke criticised certain sperm banks for failing to adhere to national limits, noting instances where sperm from the same donor was supplied to multiple clinics.
“Even when contractually required to respect Belgian restrictions, some banks do not organise themselves in a way that complies with the law,” he explained, adding that such practices make enforcing quotas virtually impossible.
