Dutch IVF kids seek DNA tests from late sperm bank doc
A group of Dutch people born through IVF treatment demanded on Tuesday that DNA tests be done on the late head of a sperm bank who according to reports may have fathered up to 60 children.
Jan Karbaat, who died earlier this month at the age of 89, is rumoured to have donated his own sperm while he ran his Rotterdam clinic, according to the rights group Defence for Children, which along with another group Donorkind, is representing parents and children in the case.
"Even though he has died, there are still ways to compare his DNA with the DNA of his suspected biological children," said Defence for Children, which also accuses him of abusing his position and negligence of his patients.
Dutch public broadcaster NOS and the Dutch daily AD said he may have fathered as many as 60 children, falsifying the data, the screening results as well as the descriptions of donors, while also exceeding the maximum number of six children allowed per donor.
His clinic reportedly closed in 2009.
"It's crazy that he is no longer around," IVF baby Moniek Wassenaar, 36, told AD.
"He has taken his secrets with him to the grave."
She met Karbaat in 2010, and recognised some physical similarities.
"We both have a large forehead and a wide mouth," she said. "He told me it was possible that I was his biological child."
But the doctor refused a blood test, and instead told of how proud he was to have used his sperm.
He said "he was intelligent and in good health. So he could share his genes with the world. He saw it as something noble. He had no notion of ethics and downplayed the impact on the IVF kids," Wassenaar recalled.
Under the Convention on the Rights of the Child, each child has the right to know who his or her parents are, Defence for Children said.
"The organisations are calling on members of Karbaat's family to voluntarily provide DNA samples," it said.
Before his death, the affected parents and children had launched a lawsuit against him. A hearing is set for May, but the case has been suspended in the hopes the family will provide DNA.
"We understand how painful this issue is for relatives in these difficult times," the organisation added.
"But we want to shed light on the difficult situation the IVF children and their families find themselves in, as they must live with the uncertainty of their parentage."
© 2017 AFP
