Application of the government in place according to Minister Vandenbroucke after scandal with seed donation

Last week it became known that 52 children were conceived through Belgian fertility centers in 37 different women with sperm from a donor with a carcinogenic gene. According to the law, however, only 6 women may use the same donor, but until the founding of the Fertidata database in 2024 there was actually no way in which different donor centers could exchange data with each other.

According to Minister Vandenbroucke, there has been « political negligence » by successive governments in changing compositions. He thereby refers to the 2007 law that stipulated that a maximum of six women can use the sperm of the same donor. That law also stated that there had to be a database to check that rule, but that was only tackled in 2021-2022. « That is not right, in terms of political responsibility? » Says Vandenbroucke.

He emphasizes that he is not busy with « settlements. » With a possible investigation committee, which coalition partner N-VA does not fully exclude, Vandenbroucke would have « no problem ». It is now waiting for the investigation of the federal internal audit that he has asked. After the summer, results should already be on the table.

The minister also wants to see whether the database can be supplemented to the past, although he notes that he has not made a « fixed promise » about it. After all, it is a « particularly complicated » matter – according to him it has not turned out to be that simple in the Netherlands. It is certain for Vandenbroucke that families and donor children also have the right to know if more than six women have used the same donor if the government can know.

Listen to the episode of our Actuapodcast De Insider about the donor scandal: