Medisch Centrum Kinderwens (MCK), a commercial fertility clinic in Leiderdorp that deliberately created mass donors, also made many other mistakes, Nieuwsuur reported after investigating the clinic. According to the program, MCK also used sperm from too old donors, inseminated women from abroad against donors’ express wishes, and lied to the inspectorate.

MCK was a very popular fertility clinic in the past 15 years, particularly among single women and lesbian couples, both from the Netherlands and abroad. The clinic came under fire last year when Nieuwsuur revealed that it deliberately did not adhere to the limit that a donor may father no more than 25 children. That limit was implemented in 1992. In 2018, it was tightened to no more than 12 families per donor.

The same guidelines also set an age limit for sperm donors. They must be between 18 and 45 years old. No older than 45 because otherwise the age difference with the children becomes too large, but also because sperm from older men poses a higher risk of disorders and diseases in the conceived children.

The MCK website states that it adheres to this age limit, but internal documents in Nieuwsuur’s possession show that this was a lie. The documents show that the clinic allowed men up to 50 to donate sperm, sometimes even older. One donor confirmed to the program that he started donating at age 47 and had made 15 donations by age 52.

The program also spoke to two mothers whose donor turned out to have been 48 when he donated the sperm that conceived their children. One mother’s child has autism. “I now know: the older the donor, the greater the risk of these types of disorders.” For the other, the donor was over twice her age. “If the doctor had told me back then, I absolutely would not have agreed. I was in my early 20s and still had plenty of time to wait for a younger donor,” she told the program.

Nieuwsuur also discovered that the clinic hid abuses from the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ) when it launched an investigation into all fertility clinics in 2015. MCK told the inspectorate that “the maximum number of children is kept below 25.” In reality, MCK maintained a limit of 25 families, not 25 children, until at least mid-2017, resulting in men with 50 or more descendants. Former IGJ inspector Jan Maarten den Berg told Nieuwsuur that it was “highly reprehensible” that MCK “told lies at that time.”

On top of that, MCK also conceived children for women from abroad, even against donors’ express wishes. The MCK donor contract stated that a donor could conceive children for “25 families in the Netherlands plus 15 children with clients not in the Netherlands.” Some donors explicitly crossed out the option for “clients not residing in the Netherlands,” but the clinic did not always adhere to that agreement.

Nieuwsuur spoke to two donors who only recently discovered they also sired children abroad. One has 25 children in the Netherlands and another 25 in other countries.

MCK told Nieuwsuur that it is now providing full cooperation with the new investigation by the Health and Youth Care Inspectorate (IGJ). “We await the publication of the IGJ report regarding historical and current working methods,” the clinic said in a written response.

“MCK operates fully in line with the applicable laws and regulations, with the well-being of our patients as our highest priority,” MCK said. “Parents who have questions about their donor process can contact MCK for a personal consultation. We will make no further announcements.”