A gynaecologist from Zwolle, a city in the northeastern Netherlands, has been found to have inseminated intended parents with his own sperm, without the parents’ knowledge. At least 17 donor children conceived in the ‘80s and ‘90s have been linked to him through DNA research in a commercial database.Â
The late Gynaecologist Jan Wildschut worked with KID (Artificial Insemination Donor Sperm) between 1981 and 1993, using his own semen for inseminations in an unknown number of women. The parents believed the sperm was coming from anonymous donors.Â
Discovering the DNA link
The relationship was discovered after one donor child matched with Wildschut’s niece through a DNA database. From there, the person was linked to 16 other donor children. The connections were confirmed through further DNA testing with the help of one of Wildschut’s legal children. The donor children have regular contact and a good relationship with the family of the gynaecologist.
The hospital’s response
Wildschut worked at the former Sophia Hospital’s fertility clinic, now Isala Hospital. The hospital confirms this report in a joint statement with Wildschut’s donor children and legal children. They have not yet been able to find whether any other donor children can be linked to the gynaecologist. The Isala Hospital’s stance is that the actions are morally unacceptable, and they had been unaware of the doctor’s actions.
The donor children and Wildschut’s family worked together to establish the virtual donor profile of the gynaecologist in Fiom’s KID DNA database (for parentage questions). Any donor children who want to know whether Wildschut may be their biological father can have their DNA compared to his in the database. Those who are a match can request a personal meeting with the hospital.
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