A hospital investigation into a former employee, gynaecologist Dr Jos Beek, who was discovered to have used his own sperm to treat his patients, has identified 41 genetic offspring.
An investigation by the organisation Fiom found DNA matches between one of Dr Beek's children, and 21 children born to mothers who were his patients, which prompted a hotline to be set up by the Alrijne Hospital, Leiden, the Netherlands where he had worked (see BioNews 1131). Now, the NL Times has reported that the hospital has announced its investigation has now identified 41 individuals he had fathered, with the youngest born in 1990. It also discovered he had a rare genetic condition two of his genetic offspring had died from.
Meanwhile, the discovery that a former gynaecologist at the Sint-Rembert Hospital in Torhout, West Flanders, Belgium may have similarly used his sperm without patient consent has prompted the hospital to set up a hotline to help patients and their children who believe they may have been affected. The Brussels Times reports in English, while the original article was published by VRT in Flemish.