At least 30 children may have been conceived with wrong donors at a Northern Cyprus IVF clinic

At least 30 children — most of them British citizens — are suspected to have been conceived through in‑vitro procedures in Northern Cyprus using the wrong sperm or egg donors, according to new findings. In each case parents say they were given offspring that do not match the anonymous donors they carefully selected.

Parents report that they had chosen anonymous donors based on medical history, appearance, personality, education and hobbies, but now fear the donors used in their fertility treatments were not the ones they were promised.

Half of the 30 children are said to have been born after procedures at a single clinic, the Dogus IVF Center. Three clinic staff members — Dr Firdevs Uguz Tip, Dr Shevket Alpturk and patient coordinator Julie Hodson — were involved in the care of many of the patients. Parents suspect these employees may have misled them. "This is absolutely scandalous," said one mother, Rachel, who recently learned she had been given sperm from the wrong donor. Firdevs denies any wrongdoing, while Alpturk and Hodson did not respond to questions.

Earlier investigation and donor blacklist

An investigation earlier this year first identified seven cases; the new numbers expand that cohort to at least 30 families who now have concerns about donor identity. It was also found that Cryos International, the world's largest sperm bank, placed the Dogus clinic on a blacklist in 2016.

Northern Cyprus — a territory that is not subject to European Union law and is recognised only by Turkey — has fertility clinics that are lightly regulated and that attract patients with promises of low prices, high success rates and a wide selection of sperm and egg donors. The jurisdiction has become a popular destination for British people seeking fertility treatment abroad.

Photo: Bi-Bi-Si)