The complaints about the practices followed in the occupied territories during IVF are taking on scandalous and extremely worrying proportions. At least 30 families from Britain appear to have been deceived into their chosen sperm and egg donors. At the same time, there are accusations that medical staff misled parents, according to a BBC report, which brought the case to light.
Concerns about a ring around IVF in the occupied territories are intensified, at the same time, by the case of the arrest of a man, last May, at the illegal airport of Tymbou, who illegally transported four human embryos.
At least 30 children, most of them British, are feared to have been born through IVF treatment in the occupied territories, using the wrong sperm or egg donors. In any case, the parents suspect that the donors they had chosen were not used.
This number is one of the new findings of a BBC investigation, which earlier this year had revealed the first seven cases.
All parents report thatthey had carefully selected anonymous donors based on information such as their medical history, appearance, personality, education and interests. However, they are concerned that the sperm or eggs of the donors they had requested may not have been used in the fertility treatments they underwent.
Half of the 30 children were born after procedures at a clinic, the Dogus IVF Centre.
"It's absolutely scandalous," said one of the mothers, Rachel, who was recently informed that a different sperm donor was used in her case than the one she had chosen at the clinic.
Three people – Dr. Firdevs Uguz Tip, Dr. Sevket Alpturk and patient coordinator Julie Hodson – were involved in the care of many of these patients at Dogus.
Parents suspect that these staff members may have misled them. Firdevs denies any irregularity, while neither Alpturk nor Hodson responded to questions from the BBC.
The BBC has also been informed that the world's largest sperm bank, Cryos International, has blacklisted the Dogus clinic since 2016.
In the occupied territories – an area where European Union legislation does not apply and which is legally recognized only by Turkey – clinics are subject to lax supervision and promise patients low prices, high success rates and a wide choice of sperm and egg donors.
It is one of the most popular destinations for Britons seeking fertility treatment abroad.
The BBC first revealed the looming scandal in March, when a small group of parents appeared to have been misled about donors.
In response to the complaints, the "Ministry of Health" in the occupied territories said that an official investigation had begun. However, he did not respond to the BBC's repeated requests for more information.
Since then, more parents have contacted the BBC, and their stories show disturbing similarities.
The majority said that the clinics they had used had promised them vetted, healthy donors from Western Europe, but that they began to suspect that something was wrong after the birth of their children.
Eleven of the 30 children have now undergone commercial DNA tests, which show that they have inherited genetic ancestry from Turkey or neighboring countries.
This suggests that the donors their parents had requested were not used.
The majority of children who have undergone DNA testing were conceived through IVF between 2012 and 2024 at the Dogus Clinic.
Families have been left with unanswered questions about who their children's real donors are and what their medical history is.
"These reports are deeply worrying," said Laura Bridgens, founder of the charity Donor Conceived UK. "It is a fundamental human right of a person conceived with the help of a donor to know the truth about his origin."
Wrong sperm donor
Rachel says that for years she wondered if the wrong sperm donor had been used during her treatment at the Dogus IVF Centre.
After reading the first BBC report, she and her 13-year-old son, Jonah, who was conceived with the help of a donor, decided to do a DNA test and the results showed that her fears were well-founded.
"I thought the clinic had made an isolated mistake," he said. But now, after being informed by the BBC that other families have come forward, he said that "it seems that this is something much bigger and much more misleading".
Rachel chose Dogus in 2012 because of a "helpful and friendly" patient coordinator, Julie Hodson, whose role was to act as a liaison between Rachel and Dr Firdevs Uguz Tip – known professionally as Dr Firdevs – who carried out her treatment.
Rachel, who was 39 at the time, needed a sperm donor so that her eggs could be fertilized in a laboratory and an embryo could be created, which would then be implanted in her uterus.
The IVF package cost around €4,000 – about £3,200 at the time – significantly cheaper than a similar treatment in the UK, and included donor sperm from the world's largest sperm bank, Cryos International in Denmark.
Rachel chose an anonymous Danish sperm donor through her Cryos website. On his profile he appeared as Ditto – not his real name – and said that he would be willing any child born of his sperm to be informed of his identity when he turned 18.
"I wanted any of my children to have the option to be able to contact the donor," Rachel said. "For a kid trying to figure out who he is and what his place in the world is, that could be really important."
Several patient coordinators at the IVF clinic, including Hodson, told Rachel that Firdevs would handle the donor's sperm order.
Rachel travelled to the occupied territories for fertility treatment and became pregnant shortly after.
She first became concerned that Ditto was not the donor when patient coordinators, including Hodson, repeatedly refused to send her a medical report confirming that his sperm had been used.
When Jonah was born, his physical appearance also raised questions, as it differed significantly from both hers and the one described in Ditto's profile.
Now, after 13 years of uncertainty, Rachel and Jonah's DNA tests show that he is her biological son, but that Ditto was not the sperm donor.
After reviewing the DNA results, BBC News contacted Cryos, who reports that they have no record showing that she ever delivered sperm to the Dogus clinic. This, despite the fact that Dogus advertised its partnership with the sperm bank as its main advantage for many years.
This further reinforces the belief of several families that they were deceived as to the real sperm donors used in their treatments.
There may be many more cases.
Rachel says that what has been revealed does not change the love she has for Jonah. What upsets her the most, however, is that Jonah may have lost the ability to communicate with his donor in the future.
He also does not know if his real donor has been used in other IVF treatments. "It wouldn't surprise me if there were any genetic siblings somewhere," he adds.
Negligence or deception?
When the BBC presented the findings of its latest research to a number of fertility experts, they said they were shocked at the possibility of 30 children being affected.
Accidentally using the wrong donor during an IVF procedure is extremely rare, they said, and the fact that a mistake of such magnitude appears to have occurred repeatedly points to "negligence" or "deception."
According to the British Fertility Society, this suggests a "systemic problem that goes beyond a single unscrupulous doctor and a single problematic clinic."
Of the 15 instances linked to Dogus, three staff members appear repeatedly.
Dr. Sevket Alpturk is the owner and "responsible director" of the clinic, a role that, according to the "government" in the occupied territories, includes the approval of all procedures and activities.
He was in charge of treating the parents of six children at Dogus, who told the BBC they suspected the wrong sperm or egg donors may have been used.
Alpturk is the owner of Dogus IVF Centre.
The BBC raised these allegations with Alpturk, but he did not respond to his questions.
The other nine children linked to Dogus had cases handled by Firdevs. However, she says that Alpturk was responsible for approving the procedures at the clinic and denies ever misleading patients.
Firdevs was also the doctor in nine more similar cases, at two other clinics, after leaving Dogus in 2015.
The majority of these cases occurred at Miracle IVF, which he currently runs. She insists that the clinic has always complied with the law. She also says her patients sign consent forms explaining how donors are chosen, but many of the parents the BBC spoke to say they were not adequately informed.
Firdevs has been working on Miracle IVF since 2019.
The last person linked to many of Dogus' cases was Julie Hodson, who was the main point of contact for most British patients.
In emails to patients, he repeatedly stated that Firdevs would order sperm from the Cryos bank on their behalf.
However, Firdevs told the BBC that the supply of sperm was not part of her duties and that she did not know that patients were being told otherwise.
Hodson was one of Dogus' patient coordinators.
The BBC asked Hodson whether she deliberately failed to place orders from Cryos or did not pass on patient requests to Dogus staff, but did not respond to any of the attempts to contact her.
Both Hodson and Firdevs have also been accused of rejecting or ignoring patients when they contacted them expressing concerns that the wrong donors had been used.
In response to the survey's findings, Cryos CEO Ole Schou said he was "shocked by how many families may have been affected."
The sperm bank revealed to the BBC that it had blacklisted Dogus in 2016 due to concerns that the clinic had not ordered sperm from Cryos for a patient, despite saying it would.
The sperm bank has now also suspended its cooperation with Firdevs and Miracle IVF until the "government's" investigation into the occupied territories is completed.
Firdevs says she has now been cleared of any charges of breaking the law, but the BBC has not been able to confirm this claim with the "Ministry of Health" in the occupied territories.
Details of organisations offering information and support on infertility issues are available through the BBC Action Line.
It may never be known who was ultimately responsible for the wrong donors being used in the parents' treatments.
For much of his life, Jonah thought he was half Danish. However, DNA tests revealed that he is of Turkish and southern European descent.
"Fortunately, Jonah was thrilled to learn more about his origins," Rachel said.
"Even so, what happened is not acceptable. It's something huge and it could have been absolutely traumatic for him."
Information from the BBC
