- Published
At least 30 children, most of them British, are feared to have been conceived by IVF treatment in northern Cyprus using the wrong sperm or egg donors.
asserted
most → publish → donors
In each case, the parents suspect they did not get the donors they had selected.
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they → suspect → donors
The figure is one of several new findings in a BBC investigation that, earlier this year, uncovered the first seven cases.
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that → uncover → cases
All the parents say they carefully selected anonymous donors based on information such as their medical history, appearance, personality, education and hobbies.
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they → say → history
However, they have concerns the requested sperm and egg donors may not have been used in their fertility treatments.
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donors → have → treatments
Half of the 30 children were born from procedures at one clinic, Dogus IVF Centre.
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Half → bear → clinic
"It's absolutely scandalous," said one of the mothers, Rachel, who recently learned that she received the wrong sperm donor from the clinic.
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she → say → clinic
Three people - Dr Firdevs Uguz Tip, Dr Sevket Alpturk, and a patient co-ordinator Julie Hodson - were involved in the care of many of these patients at Dogus.
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people → involve → Dogus
Parents suspect these members of staff may have misled them.
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members → suspect → them
Firdevs denies any wrongdoing and neither Alpturk or Hodson have responded to our questions.
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Alpturk → deny → questions
The BBC has also now learnt that the world's largest sperm bank, Cryos International, has blacklisted Dogus clinic since 2016.
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bank → learn → 2016
Have you been affected by the issues raised in this story?
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you → affect → story
In northern Cyprus - a territory where European Union laws do not apply and which is only legally recognised by Turkey - clinics are loosely regulated and promise patients low prices, high success rates and a wide choice of sperm and egg donors.
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clinics → apply → donors
The Turkish-occupied territory is one of the most popular destinations for British people seeking fertility treatment abroad.
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territory → occupy → treatment
We first revealed the emerging scandal in March where a small group of parents appeared to have been misled about donors.
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group → reveal → donors
Responding to the allegations, the territory's Ministry of Health said it had launched an official investigation.
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it → respond → investigation
However, it has not responded to our repeated requests for more information.
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it → respond → information
Since then, more parents have contacted us and their stories have concerning similarities.
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stories → contact → similarities
The majority said the clinics they had used had promised them screened, healthy donors from Western Europe, but that they had become suspicious after their children were born.
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children → say → Europe
Eleven of the 30 children have now taken commercial DNA tests which show they have inherited genetic ancestry from Turkey or surrounding countries.
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they → take → Turkey
This suggests their parents' requested donors were not used.
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donors → suggest → ?
The majority of the children who have done DNA tests were conceived through IVF between 2012 and 2024 at Dogus clinic.
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who → do → clinic
Families have been left with questions about who their children's real donors are and their medical histories.
"These reports are deeply troubling," said Laura Bridgens, founder of the charity Donor Conceived UK.
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Bridgens → leave → charity
"It's a fundamental human right for a donor-conceived person to know the truth about their origins."
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person → conceive → origins
In the past few days, the UK's Foreign Office has also updated its travel advice warning that fertility treatment in northern Cyprus "carries risks" due to a lack of regulation and it encourages those seeking IVF in the territory to conduct thorough research beforehand.
Wrong sperm donor
Rachel says she spent years questioning whether she had been given the wrong sperm donor during her treatment at Dogus IVF Centre.
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she → update → Centre
After reading our first article, she and her donor-conceived son Jonah, 13, decided to do DNA tests and the results indicated her fears were justified.
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fears → read → tests
"I used to think the clinic had made a one-off mistake," she said.
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she → use → mistake
But now, after we told her about more families coming forward, she said "it feels like this is something much bigger and more deceitful".
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this → tell → families
Rachel chose Dogus in 2012 because of a "helpful and friendly" patient co-ordinator called Julie Hodson, whose role was to liaise between Rachel and Dr Firdevs Uguz Tip - known professionally as Dr Firdevs - who was carrying out her treatment.
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who → choose → treatment
Rachel, who was 39 at the time, needed a sperm donor so her eggs could be fertilised in a lab to create an embryo which could then be implanted into her uterus.
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which → need → uterus
The IVF package cost about €4,000 (roughly about £3,200 at the time), significantly cheaper than similar treatment in the UK, and included donor sperm from the world's largest sperm bank, Cryos International, in Denmark.
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package → cost → Denmark
Rachel selected an anonymous Danish sperm donor on the Cryos website.
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Rachel → select → website
Known as Ditto (not his real name) on his profile, he stated he would be happy for any of his offspring to find out his identity when they turned 18.
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they → know → 18
"I wanted any child of mine to have the choice of being able to contact the donor," said Rachel.
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Rachel → want → donor
"For a child trying to figure out who they are in the world, it could be really important."
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it → try → world
Several patient co-ordinators at the IVF clinic, including Hodson, told Rachel that Firdevs would arrange her sperm donor order.
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Firdevs → include → order
Rachel travelled to northern Cyprus for the fertility treatment - and became pregnant shortly afterwards.
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Rachel → travel → treatment
She says she first became concerned that Ditto was not the donor when patient co-ordinators, including Hodson, repeatedly refused to send her a medical report confirming his sperm had been used.
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sperm → say → report
When he was born, Jonah's physical appearance also raised questions - it differed greatly from both her own and the one described in Ditto's profile.
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it → bear → profile
Now, after 13 years of uncertainty, Rachel and Jonah's DNA tests indicate that he is her biological son, but that Ditto was not the sperm donor.
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Ditto → indicate → uncertainty
…and 32 more, not listed.
