Kenneth Glad
Medical warnings can arrive long after treatment has ended. For affected households, the delay can change how quickly children are tested and monitored.
Thirty-two women were not confirmed to have received a 2023 warning that a sperm donor used in Danish fertility treatment had been linked to a serious inherited cancer risk, broadcaster DR reports.
They accounted for about 40 percent of Danish patients known to have become pregnant using sperm from the donor.
The Danish Patient Safety Authority found the missed notifications in autumn 2025, after the case became public, and told clinics to review whether families had been contacted.
A separate investigation by BBC states that the donor fathered at least 197 children across Europe. His sperm was used by 67 clinics in 14 countries, but was not sold to UK clinics.
Warning came two years late
One couple, named by DR as Emma and Michael to protect their children, said they received the warning almost two years after it was dated.
Michael said an email arrived in October 2025 from an unfamiliar fertility clinic. It included a European Sperm Bank letter dated October 30, 2023.
“I first thought it was spam. But it turned out to be a warning telling us to contact the genetics department at the hospital.,” he told DR.
Emma said the date on the letter made the delay clear.
“The letter was dated two years before I received it. I couldn’t understand how a warning this important could arrive so late,” she said.
TP53 mutation raised cancer concerns
According to the BBC, the mutation affects TP53, a gene involved in stopping cells from becoming cancerous.
The condition is known as Li Fraumeni syndrome and can carry a lifetime cancer risk of up to 90 percent.
The donor is healthy. European Sperm Bank told the British broadcaster that the mutation was not detectable through preventive screening and said the donor was blocked once the problem was discovered.
Emma and Michael’s children later tested positive for the mutation. They are healthy, but have now been placed in lifelong monitoring with annual scans.
Clinic takeover affected notification duty
The clinic used for the couple’s second child had closed and was taken over by Vitanova in March 2024.
According to DR, Vitanova said the previous clinic should have contacted the family in 2023.
Their first clinic also failed to reach them. Documents obtained by the Danish broadcaster show that a later review by Zealand University Hospital found two families had been missed by mistake.
The Danish Patient Safety Authority told DR that fertility clinics must trace families when a donor is blocked because of a serious genetic finding.
“It is completely unacceptable that there are women who were not informed by their fertility clinic in connection with the blocking of the donor in 2023. It is a duty that lies with the fertility clinics,” unit chief Bente Moller wrote.
Sources: DR, BBC
