European Sperm Donor with Genetic Mutation Fathers Hundreds

Information gathered by 14 European public broadcast organizations, including CBS News' affiliate BBC News, has uncovered that a sperm donor, unaware that he was a carrier of a cancer-inducing genetic mutation, has helped bring about the birth of nearly 200 children across Europe.

Tragically, some offspring conceived with this sperm have succumbed to cancer, and many more face a high likelihood of developing cancer throughout their lives.

The donor, who successfully passed screening processes before becoming an official donor at the European Sperm Bank in 2005 while he was a student, had his sperm utilized by hopeful parents across several nations for 17 years.

The genetic anomaly, a mutation found in the TP53 gene, is responsible for inhibiting cellular transformation into cancer cells and was present in the donor from birth. This mutation results in Li Fraumeni syndrome, which confers a 90% chance of cancer occurrence, especially in childhood and later as breast cancer.

Approximately one-fifth of his sperm harbored the mutated gene, posing a serious health risk to any child conceived from it, affecting all of their cells.

Genetic disease expert Clare Turnbull expressed to the BBC, "It's a devastating diagnosis for any family. The lifelong cancer risk is an overwhelming reality to live with."

Discovery of the Genetic Risk

The involvement of the donor's sperm came to light when medical professionals, attending children with cancer associated with sperm donation, raised flags at the European Society of Human Genetics meeting.

At that juncture, they were aware of 23 children carrying the mutation out of 67 linked to the donor, with ten already diagnosed with cancer.

Journalists employing Freedom of Information Act requests across different nations calculated that up to 197 children were potentially impacted, but exact numbers of those who carried the mutation were unknown.

The counts could increase as more records become accessible.

Dr. Edwige Kasper from Rouen University Hospital in France reported, "We talk about some kids who've battled more than one type of cancer, and tragically, a few have passed away prematurely."

According to the European Sperm Bank, CBS News reports it never exports to the US due to regulatory issues there but has partnerships with banks in Canada and Mexico.

Distribution and Regulation Challenges

This donor's sperm, distributed by the Danish European Sperm Bank, reached 67 fertility clinics across 14 countries.

Countries maintain individual regulations over sperm donor use domestically, but no overarching international policy restricts usage on a global scale.

Evidently, some national parameters were not honored.

The probe highlighted that in Belgium, where a single donor's sperm is meant for a maximum of six families, 53 children were born to 38 women.