The man, then a Danish student, started donating sperm to the European Sperm Bank in 2004, but did not know he carried the mutation. When it was discovered in 2023, the man's sperm was stopped and fertility clinics were alerted.
According to a review by the European Broadcasting Union's investigative journalism network, of whichSVT is a member, 197 children had been born through his donations. Several of them have been diagnosed with cancer. Children have also died, according to information from Genturis, an expert network of doctors and researchers who raised the alarm this spring.
Genturis previously stated that eight Swedish families are affected, but according to SVT's information, it could be 22 children who were born through insemination in Denmark.
The man had donor number 7069 and was called “Kjeld.” The European Sperm Bank emphasizes that it carries out extensive checks on sperm donors but that mutations of the type he carries are not detected “during preventive genetic screening.”
