A Dutch fertility doctor who was accused of impregnating
patients with his sperm without their consent fathered 49 children, DNA tests
revealed.
Jan Karbaat, who died in April 2017 at the age of 89,
impregnated patients at his clinic in Bijdorp, near Rotterdam, a port city in
South Holland, the BBC reported. The clinic shuttered in 2009. DNA tests
results were announced Friday after a court ruled in February to “release his
DNA,” which was taken off items like a toothbrush.
A group of the doctor’s suspected children and their parents
took Karbaat to court in 2017 following suspicions that they may all be
related. The doctor inseminated his patients with his sperm instead of using
that of chosen donors.
DNA tests showed Karbaat fathered 49 children, according to
Defence for Children International, which helped the case. Many of the children
are now in their thirties, Sky News reported.
Tim Bueters, a lawyer who represented the children, told
Dutch broadcaster NOS that “there is finally clarity for the children who are
matched.”
One of Karbaat’s children said he is glad to have the truth
confirmed.
"After a search of 11 years I can continue my life. I
am glad that I finally have clarity."
Mr Karbaat was first taken to court in 2017 by a group of
donor children and their parents over suspicions they were related.
One of the cases involved a donor child who physically
resembled the doctor, the court heard.
Items were seized from his home after his death in April
2017 at the age of 89.
Judges ruled in 2017 that DNA tests could be carried out but
said the results must be sealed pending the outcome of further court cases,
Dutch media reported.
In February this year, Rotterdam District Court ruled that
the results of the tests could be finally be revealed.
They substantiate "serious suspicions that Mr Karbaat
used his own sperm in the clinic", a statement on the website of legal
firm Rex Advocate says.
Mr Karbaat called himself "a pioneer in the field of
fertilisation".
His clinic was closed in 2009 amid allegations that he had
falsified data, analyses and donor descriptions and exceeded the permitted
number of six children per donor.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-47907847
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