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At least 30 children, most of them British, may have been conceived at fertility clinics in the occupied north using sperm or egg donors different from those chosen by their parents, according to a BBC investigation.
Half of the children are linked to the Dogus IVF Centre, while other cases involve clinics where some of the same medical staff later worked.
The families say they carefully selected anonymous donors based on medical history, appearance, personality, education and other characteristics. Some also chose donors who had agreed that any children conceived could contact them after turning 18.
However, 11 of the children have since undergone commercial DNA testing. The results indicated ancestry from Turkey or surrounding countries, despite their parents having selected donors reportedly originating from Western Europe.
The findings do not change how the parents feel about their children. But they have left families without reliable information about the real donors, including their medical histories and whether other children conceived using the same donor could be biological siblings.
One British mother, identified as Rachel, selected a Danish sperm donor through Cryos International while undergoing treatment at Dogus in 2012. The treatment package cost around €4,000, considerably less than similar treatment in Britain.
After years of unanswered questions, DNA testing indicated that the selected Danish donor was not her son’s biological father. Cryos, one of the world’s largest sperm banks, later told the BBC that it had no record of ever sending sperm to Dogus.
The company also revealed that it had blacklisted the clinic in 2016 following concerns that Dogus had claimed it would order Cryos sperm for a patient but apparently failed to do so.
The allegations have placed renewed attention on fertility tourism in the north, where clinics attract foreign patients with lower prices, high advertised success rates and a wide choice of donors. The territory is outside EU law and its fertility sector is subject to looser oversight than clinics in many European countries.
British authorities have now updated their travel advice, warning that fertility treatment in the north carries risks because of the limited regulatory framework.
The Turkish Cypriot health authorities announced an investigation after the first cases emerged earlier this year but have not provided a public update. One doctor connected to several treatments has denied wrongdoing, while two other people repeatedly named by patients did not respond to the BBC’s questions.
Fertility experts said accidentally using the wrong donor is extremely rare. The British Fertility Society said the number and similarities of the cases point to a possible wider, systemic failure rather than a single isolated mistake.
For the affected families, the central question is no longer simply whether the wrong donor was used. It is whether they will ever learn who their children’s biological donors really are.
*Source: BBC
