Sperm donor who has fathered 197 children found to have cancer

British women have received sperm from a donor with a cancer-causing gene while seeking fertility treatment abroad, the UK's fertility regulator has confirmed.

The donor, with a genetic mutation which increases the risk of cancer by up to 90 per cent, has fathered at least 197 children across Europe, it has been reported. This includes a 'very small' number of British women who received sperm from the donor while getting fertility care in Denmark, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) said.

It is understood that the women have all been informed. The BBC reported that the man was paid to donate sperm as a student and that his sperm was used for around 17 years.

The man, who has not been named, passed donor screening tests. But the BBC reported that 20 per cent of his