Once again, 53 children have been conceived in Belgium by 39 different mothers using sperm from a Danish donor with a genetic abnormality, according to an update on the website of the Federal Agency for Medicines and Health Products (FAMHP).
The sperm samples were distributed to 24 countries.
The donor's sperm was supplied via the Danish sperm bank Cryos to 12 recipients.
Two fertility centres flouted the legal limit. In Belgium, this limit is set at six families, meaning that a donor may only donate to six different mothers (although those mothers may have several children by the same donor). One of the fertility centres even exceeded this legal limit 20 times.
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The FAMHP is aware of 121 instances where this limit has been exceeded.
A variant of the COL3A1 gene was identified in two donor-conceived children. This gene is responsible for the production of type III collagen, a protein that provides strength and structure to blood vessels, the skin and organs. Consequently, the donor was blocked on 23 July 2026.
Last year, it emerged that a Danish donor with a hereditary genetic abnormality that causes cancer had fathered at least 197 children across Europe. In Belgium, this involved 53 children born to 39 different women.
As a result, the regulations governing fertility clinics were tightened.
