It has now come to light that 10 of those children have developed cancer, while another 20 have been found to carry the same harmful gene variant.
The case came to public attention after two separate families contacted fertility clinics to report that their children had developed cancers tied to a rare genetic mutation known as TP53.
Medical professionals recommend that individuals with this gene receive lifelong screenings, such as full-body and brain MRIs, to catch any signs of cancer early.
But this mutation wasn’t well-known when the donor gave his sperm, with most of his donations taking place back in 2008 before such guidelines were widespread.
Dr. Edwige Kasper, a biologist working at Rouen University Hospital in France, explained the genetic findings by saying: “I analysed the variant using population and patient databases, computer prediction tools and the results of functional trials and came to the conclusion that the variant was probably cancer-causing and that children born from this donor should receive genetic counselling.”
Currently, there is no globally enforced cap on the number of children that can be born from a single donor. However, The European Sperm Bank, where the man donated, enforces an internal limit of 75 children per donor.
They also confirmed that the clinics involved had been notified about the situation.
Many of the births happened between 2008 and 2015. The incident has since triggered fresh discussions around whether there should be stricter international rules governing sperm donation.
“We can’t do whole-genome sequencing for all sperm donors – I’m not arguing for that. But this is the abnormal dissemination of genetic disease. Not every man has 75 children across Europe.”
Nicky Hudson, a professor at De Montfort University in Leicester, also emphasized the potential dangers of transporting donor sperm across different countries without proper regulation or limits.
“Whilst these kinds of cases have thankfully been rare, we need to consider ways to limit the possibility of this scenario becoming more frequent in future by coordinating international practice. At the very least we need better systems for tracking donor usage and of informing recipients of this.”
The spokesperson continued: “We welcome continued dialogue on setting an internationally mandated family limit and have advocated for this on several occasions. This is also why we have proactively implemented our own international limit of 75 families per donor.”