Almost 200 children conceived from sperm donor with cancer

Sperm from a donor who unknowingly carried a cancer gene has been used to conceive almost 200 babies in Europe, according to an investigation by the BBC and 14 other publicly owned news organizations, along with members of the European Broadcasting Union’s Investigative Journalism Network.

Some children fathered by the donor have already died, and only a minority who inherit the gene will not have cancer in their lifetime, the British outlet reported.

The sperm was not used in the U.K., but a small number of British families who underwent fertility treatment in Denmark used the donor.

Denmark’s European Sperm Bank sold the sperm and said families affected had its “deepest sympathy,” adding that the sperm was used to conceive too many babies in some countries.

The sperm belonge