A recent BBC investigation confirms that several UK families have found, via commercial DNA tests, that the sperm or egg donors used in their IVF treatment were not the ones they had selected. These “mix-ups” are all tied to IVF clinics in northern Cyprus, which is a popular region for intended parents to engage clinical services from for their family-making needs due to lower fees and a wider pool of donor choice. Northern Cyprus clinics are also able to offer services that are otherwise illegal in England & Wales, due to there being less regulation, such as sex selection for non-medical reasons.

The impact of such negligence or deception (it is unconfirmed by the BBC investigation which it is) has meant that children thought to share the same donor were not genetically related to each other at all, despite assurances being made to the intended parents that the same donor would be used for both/all IVF treatments. It also brings into question the level of health screening performed by the clinics, if any, and the processes by which the donor gametes were acquired.

In English law, the genetic makeup of a child does not automatically determine the legal parentage for the child, i.e. who is to be named on the birth certificate. There is however a complicated web of factors which English law takes into account, as underpinned by the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Act 2008. This includes consent, where and how the fertility treatment was conducted, who gave birth to the child, marital and civil partnership status, etc.

For the families involved with the BBC investigation, they have had to come to terms with the fact that the genetic make-up of their family is not what they had been sold. For families looking into IVF clinics either domestically or abroad (and especially in loosely regulated regions such as northern Cyprus) extra care and awareness needs to be taken. English legal advice should be obtained at every stage of the journey, particularly at the very start.

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