Cancer Risk In 197 Children: How Sperm Donor's Genetic Mutation Travelled The World Over 16 Years

Last Updated:December 10, 2025, 22:51 IST

The scale of the situation is staggering, as the donor's sperm was distributed between 2006 and 2022, sold to 67 clinics across 14 countries

The mutation in question is a rare form of the TP53 gene, linked to an increased risk of cancer. (Image for representation)

A significant global public health concern has emerged following the discovery that an asymptomatic sperm donor, known by the alias Kjeld, was used to conceive nearly 200 children worldwide despite carrying a genetic mutation that significantly increases cancer risk.

Denmark’s public broadcaster, DR, brought the crisis to light. “At least 197 children were born thanks to the sperm of an anonymous Danish donor using the alias Kjeld before the sperm bank discovered a serious genetic abnormality," it said.

The scale of the situation is staggering, as the donor’s sperm was distributed between 2006 and 2022, sold to 67 clinics across 14 countries. In Denmark alone, 99 children were fathered by this donor.

The Danish Patient Safety Authority confirmed this distribution, noting that 99 children were born after treatment at a clinic specifically stating that “49 children were born to women living in Denmark and 50 were born to women living outside Denmark". The mutation in question is a rare form of the TP53 gene, linked to an increased risk of cancer.

Denmark’s European Sperm Bank (ESB), one of the world’s largest providers, was initially alerted to the potential problem in April 2020. This first warning came after a child conceived via donation was diagnosed with cancer and was found to carry a genetic mutation.

However, the process of halting distribution was complex and drawn out. The ESB tested a sample of Kjeld’s sperm, but the initial “screening did not detect the rare TP53 mutation" resulting in the resumption of sales that had been temporarily suspended.

It took three more years before the sperm bank received a second alarming report, detailing “at least one other child conceived from a donation with the mutation that had developed cancer". Following this notification, additional tests confirmed that the donor carried the gene, and the use of his sperm was finally blocked in late October 2023.

The ESB attempted to clarify the situation, stating that the specific mutation is a “rare and previously undescribed TP53 mutation". The company explained that the difficulty in detection stemmed from the fact that the gene “is only found in a small part of the donor’s sperm cells and not in the rest of the body, as the donor himself is not affected". It said the defect could not be detected by prior genetic screening and noted that not all children conceived from the donor possess the mutation.

This crisis underscores a major regulatory vulnerability in the fertility industry. While many European countries regulate and restrict the number of children per donor, “there are no international regulations governing the number of children a donor can father across borders".

Although the ESB has been involved in the births of more than 70,000 children globally over two decades, it only implemented a self-imposed limit of 75 families per donor at the end of 2022. The widespread use of Kjeld highlights the urgency of establishing unified international screening and usage standards to safeguard public health globally.

(With AFP inputs)

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