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Danish sperm donor passed neurofibromatosis on to five children

BMJ 2012; 345 doi: https://doi.org/10.1136/bmj.e6570 (Published 28 September 2012) Cite this as: BMJ 2012;345:e6570
  1. Anders Hansen
  1. 1Stockholm

Danish health authorities are expected to restrict regulations regarding sperm donation after a donor was found to have passed on the genetic disease neurofibromatosis to at least five children he fathered.

The donor donated his sperm to the Copenhagen based sperm bank Nordisk Cryobank, which did not screen for the genetic disorder. The sperm were subsequently used by several different fertility clinics. According to the Danish broadcasting corporation (DR), the man has fathered 43 children in 14 different in vitro fertilisation (IVF) clinics.

The clinics are located not only in Denmark but also in Sweden, Norway, …

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