At least 30 children, most of them British, are feared to have been conceived through IVF treatment in northern Cyprus using sperm or egg donors that were not the ones their parents selected, a BBC investigation has found. In every case, the parents say they did not receive the donor they had carefully chosen. The findings expand on an earlier BBC report that had identified seven such cases.
The parents say they selected anonymous donors based on details such as medical history, appearance, personality, education and hobbies, but now suspect the requested donors were not used in their fertility procedures. Half of the 30 children were born following treatment at one clinic, Dogus IVF Centre. One mother, Rachel, described the situation as “absolutely scandalous” after recently learning she had been given the wrong sperm donor.
Three staff members were involved in the care of many of these patients at Dogus: Dr Firdevs Uguz Tip, Dr Sevket Alpturk, and patient co-ordinator Julie Hodson. Parents suspect these individuals may have misled them. Dr Firdevs denies any wrongdoing, while the other two have not responded to the BBC’s questions. The BBC has also learned that Cryos International, the world’s largest sperm bank, has blacklisted the Dogus clinic since 2016 and says it has no record of ever delivering sperm to the clinic, despite the clinic having advertised a relationship with the bank.
Northern Cyprus is a territory where European Union laws do not apply and which is legally recognised only by Turkey. Clinics there are loosely regulated and advertise low prices, high success rates and a wide choice of sperm and egg donors, making it one of the most popular destinations for British people seeking fertility treatment abroad. After the initial allegations emerged in March, the territory’s Ministry of Health said it had launched an official investigation, but it has not responded to repeated requests for more information.
Since the first cases were disclosed, more families have come forward with strikingly similar accounts. Most said they had been promised screened, healthy donors from Western Europe but became suspicious after their children were born. Eleven of the 30 children have now taken commercial DNA tests showing they inherited genetic ancestry from Turkey or surrounding countries, suggesting the donors their parents requested were not used. The majority of those DNA-tested children were conceived between 2012 and 2024 at Dogus. Families have been left with unresolved questions about who the real donors are and what their medical histories may be.
Laura Bridgens, founder of the charity Donor Conceived UK, called the reports deeply troubling, adding that it is a fundamental human right for a donor-conceived person to know the truth about their origins.
Rachel, who chose Dogus in 2012 when she was 39, said she spent years wondering whether she had been given the wrong sperm donor. She selected an anonymous Danish donor known as Ditto, who had indicated he would be happy for any offspring to learn his identity when they turned 18. Her IVF package cost about €4,000 (roughly £3,200 at the time), significantly cheaper than similar treatment in the UK, and included donor sperm from Cryos International in Denmark. After her son Jonah was born, Rachel said co-ordinators repeatedly refused to send her a medical report confirming Ditto’s sperm had been used, and Jonah’s appearance differed greatly from both her own and the description in Ditto’s profile. Now, after 13 years of uncertainty, DNA tests indicate Jonah is her biological son but that Ditto was not the sperm donor. Rachel said she once believed the clinic had made a one-off mistake, but now it feels like something much bigger and more deceitful.
The UK Foreign Office has updated its travel advice, warning that fertility treatment in northern Cyprus “carries risks” because of a lack of regulation and encouraging anyone considering IVF there to conduct thorough research beforehand.