{"id":322436,"date":"2024-12-02T14:48:51","date_gmt":"2024-12-02T20:48:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=322436"},"modified":"2024-12-01T21:20:52","modified_gmt":"2024-12-02T03:20:52","slug":"unregistered-sperm-bank-workers-donated-own","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/unregistered-sperm-bank-workers-donated-own\/","title":{"rendered":"Hospital backtracks after finding proof that sperm bank workers donated anonymously"},"content":{"rendered":"
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The Leiden University Medical Center in the Netherlands (LUMC) believes there is credible new evidence that anonymous unregistered clinic workers had been donating their own sperm, raising yet more questions for families affected by the beleaguered sperm bank.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This news comes on the heels of a November 19 report detailing the failures in registration of sperm donors at the Leiden Academic Hospital (AZL) sperm bank connected to the LUMC fertility clinic. In January, the clinic initiated an investigation when the latest scandal came to light with the inability to identify the donor for <\/span>80 children<\/span><\/a> due to anonymous, unregistered donors. This left the children without accurate genetic health information, calling into question the entire industry’s reliability.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

However, despite the November report finding that no clinic workers used their own sperm to impregnate patients, as <\/span>Omroep West reports<\/span><\/a>, the hospital recently had to backtrack after a known donor unearthed an article written by Boudewijn B\u00fcch in 1980. In his article, B\u00fcch indicated that unregistered <\/span>clinic workers at the AZL semen bank did donate their own sperm<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

This finding triggered the hospital to open another investigation days later, on November 22, issuing a statement inviting anyone who may have been affected to reach out for further information. According to the <\/span>Irish Times<\/span><\/a>, some of the clinic’s records have been destroyed, which inhibited the hospital\u2019s ability to contact previous patients.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWe are extremely shocked by this new information. We shared the findings from the report with everyone involved on Monday evening and now we have to confront them again with a painful message. We realize that this is impactful for those involved,\u201d said Martin Schalij of the LUMC Board of Directors in the hospital\u2019s <\/span>statement<\/span><\/a>.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

In a shocking admission from the 1980 article, while describing how donation does (and sometimes doesn\u2019t) work, B\u00fcch stated, \u201cThe male staff of the clinic also provide sperm. But not all of them. Of course, it can hardly be made mandatory.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In its statement, the hospital described B\u00fcch\u2019s article as “a reflection of the zeitgeist of 1980\u201d that emphasized secrecy and anonymity around fertility treatments. B\u00fcch described the struggle to find donors for the fertility clinic as he paid a visit to the clinic and interviewed Dr. Gerda Van Dijk, where she had described the clinic\u2019s need bluntly: \u201cWe are in dire need of a vat of new sperm,\u201d adding, “The donors are, so to speak, the invisible lynchpin of this company.\u201d\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

READ: Women speak out after learning sperm donor likely fathered over 100 children: \u2018I ignored a lot of red flags\u2019<\/em><\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n

As Live Action News has reported, the <\/span>fertility industry is poorly-regulated<\/span><\/a> in <\/span>most<\/span><\/a> countries<\/span><\/a> worldwide<\/span><\/a>, and has historically trampled on the <\/span>rights of donor-conceived individuals<\/span><\/a> in the favor of the <\/span>desires of adults<\/span><\/a>. The incident with AZL sperm bank in the Netherlands is just the latest in a seemingly never-ending tide of scandals, including:\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n