IVF Scandal in Northern Cyprus: Parents Suspect Wrong Sperm or Egg Donors

A disturbing scandal has emerged in northern Cyprus, where parents of at least 30 children, mostly British, suspect they were given the wrong sperm or egg donors during IVF treatment.

The parents, who carefully selected anonymous donors based on information such as medical history, appearance, personality, education, and hobbies, have concerns that the requested donors may not have been used in their fertility treatments.

The majority of the children were conceived at the Dogus IVF Centre, where three members of staff - Dr Firdevs Uguz Tip, Dr Sevket Alpturk, and patient co-ordinator Julie Hodson - were repeatedly involved in the care of many of these patients.

The parents suspect that these staff members may have misled them, but Dr Firdevs denies any wrongdoing, and neither Dr Alpturk nor Julie Hodson have responded to the BBC's questions.

The world's largest sperm bank, Cryos International, has blacklisted the Dogus clinic since 2016.

The scandal has left families with questions about who their children's real donors are and their medical histories.

"These reports are deeply troubling," said Laura Bridgens, founder of the charity Donor Conceived UK. "It's a fundamental human right for a donor-conceived person to know the truth about their origins."

## Wrong Sperm Donor

One of the parents, Rachel, who recently learned that she received the wrong sperm donor from the Dogus clinic, says "it's absolutely scandalous."

Rachel chose the Dogus clinic in 2012 because of a "helpful and friendly" patient co-ordinator called Julie Hodson, whose role was to liaise between Rachel and Dr Firdevs Uguz Tip.

Rachel selected an anonymous Danish sperm donor on the Cryos website, but DNA tests later revealed that her child was not conceived with this donor.

Rachel's experience is not an isolated case, as many other families have reported similar concerns about the donors they were given.

## Negligence or Deception?

Fertility experts have described the accidental use of an incorrect donor during an IVF procedure as extremely rare, and the fact that this has occurred on multiple occasions suggests "negligence" or "deception."

The British Fertility Society has stated that this indicates a "systemic problem which transcends one rogue doctor and one rogue clinic."

The allegations against the staff members involved in the care of these patients have been put to them, but they have not responded to the BBC's questions.

| Clinic | Number of Cases | | --- | --- | | Dogus IVF Centre | 15 | | Miracle IVF | 9 | | Other clinics | 6 |

The investigation has also revealed that the Dogus clinic has been advertising its relationship with the sperm bank Cryos as a key selling point for many years, despite Cryos having no record of ever delivering sperm to the clinic.

This has added further weight to the belief of several families that they were deceived about the real sperm donors used in their treatments.

The CEO of Cryos, Ole Schou, has expressed shock at the number of families that may be affected by this scandal.

The northern Cypriot government has launched an official investigation into the allegations, but it has not responded to the BBC's repeated requests for more information.