Fertility clinic Medisch Centrum Kinderwens in Leiderdorp created at least 36 mass donors between 2006 and 2017. The clinic knowingly violated the rules by using sperm from donors much more often than permitted, according to research by Nieuwsuur.
According to national guidelines, a sperm donor may have a maximum of 25 children. This limit has been set to limit the risk of relationships between donor children.
Medisch Centrum Kinderwens (MCK) in Leiderdorp knowingly violated this rule for years by having donors sign for donation to 25 families, rather than for 25 children. Because one family can have multiple children, this often led to a larger number of children per donor.
As a result, at least 36 men became mass donors. Some had as many as fifty children. A total of at least nine hundred mothers and twelve hundred children are involved. Both the mothers and the donors were unaware of the abuses.
The Donorkind Foundation speaks of “criminal child trafficking.” “Intended parents are nothing more than paying customers, donors a kind of raw material, and donor children nothing more than products.” According to the foundation, MCK unfairly defends itself with a shortage of donors as an argument.
Outgoing State Secretary Vincent Karremans (Youth, Prevention and Sport) calls the practices “horrible” and “inexplicable”. The Healthcare and Youth Inspectorate is investigating the case. Donor organizations are calling for an independent investigation and want MCK to stop treatments for the time being.