Sperm was taken from involuntary donors and used for artificial insemination. One of those who in this way became a father without his knowledge is Bengt Wernersson. It was not until more than 30 years later that he learned that he has a biological daughter, who was born to a woman who had been artificially inseminated with sperm taken from him at the hospital.
“What happened was an assault and extremely degrading. It feels great that the European Court of Human Rights now gives us the right to a review. It would be unreasonable if the authorities had escaped responsibility just because they had kept this secret for so many years,” he comments on the European Court of Human Rights' decision in a press release from Centrum för rättvisa.
He and another man affected by this filed a complaint against Sweden to the European Court of Human Rights in 2023 for human rights violations. In Sweden, the events have been considered prescribed. But according to Centrum för rättvisas interpretation of the decision, crimes against human rights cannot be prescribed until they are known. Therefore, Swedish courts must review the case, writes Centrum för rättvisa in the press release.
Correction: In an earlier version, there was an error regarding the court's decision on the prescription period.
