This is the conclusion of an investigation by the Braat Committee. Jos Beek worked for 25 years as a fertility doctor in the Elisabeth Hospital in Leiderdorp, which later became Alrijne. He ran his own small practice there. Beek performed fertility treatments from 1973. He passed away in 2019.
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According to the committee, Beek used his own sperm until at least 1990 on women who came to the clinic. It was previously believed that he did this until 1986. He acted alone and only used his sperm when women had to be inseminated with sperm from an anonymous donor.
It appears that the fertility doctor stopped inseminating his sperm when he found out that two of the donor children had died of the hereditary condition.
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The researchers found no records of the donors, and there is “very likely never has been,” the report reads. “It even appears that there were no donors other than Beek, whose semen was used for donor inseminations.”
According to the committee, it is ‘plausible that Beek realized that his course of action was unacceptable’. “He explicitly and repeatedly urged his patients not to talk to anyone about the donor inseminations. Possibly in the hope that this secret would never come out.”
DNA-matches
The matter came to light after the organization Fiom discovered that there were DNA matches on 21 children. This organization helps people find their biological family if there are questions about that. An investigation subsequently showed that the children were all born after fertility treatment by gynaecologist Jos Beek.
In the summer of 2021, the hospital was informed after it turned out that the DNA of the children matched that of one of Beek’s children. The hospital appointed the Braat Committee to conduct an independent investigation.
Beek is the third gynecologist in the Netherlands who is known to use his own sperm in fertility treatments.
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