At least 30 families allegedly misled over IVF donors in occupied north

Serious concerns have emerged over fertility treatment practices in the Turkish-occupied areas of Cyprus, with at least 30 families from the UK apparently misled over the sperm and egg donors they selected.

According to a BBC investigation, parents believe they may have been given sperm or eggs from different donors during IVF treatment, while allegations have also been made that medical staff misled patients.

The latest findings build on an investigation published by the BBC earlier this year, which initially identified seven cases.

The families had carefully selected anonymous donors based on information including medical history, appearance, personality, education and interests. However, they now fear that the donors they requested were not used in their fertility treatments.

Half of the 30 children were born following treatment at the Dogus IVF Centre.

“It is absolutely scandalous,” said one mother, Rachel, who recently discovered that a different sperm donor had apparently been used in her treatment.

Three people – Dr Firdevs Uguz Tip, Dr Sevket Alpturk and patient coordinator Julie Hodson – were involved in the care of several of the patients at Dogus.

Parents suspect that members of staff may have misled them. Firdevs denies any wrongdoing, while neither Alpturk nor Hodson responded to questions from the BBC.

Cryos reportedly blacklisted clinic

The BBC also reported that Cryos International, the world’s largest sperm bank, placed Dogus on its blacklist in 2016.

The Turkish-occupied areas of Cyprus, where EU law does not apply and which are recognised internationally only by Turkey, have relatively limited oversight of fertility clinics. Clinics offer patients lower prices, high success rates and a wide choice of sperm and egg donors.

The area has become a popular destination for British patients seeking fertility treatment abroad.

In March, the BBC first reported that a small group of parents appeared to have been misled about the identity of their donors.

The Turkish Cypriot health authorities said at the time that an official investigation had been launched, but did not respond to repeated BBC requests for further information.

Since then, more parents have contacted the BBC, describing strikingly similar experiences.

Most said the clinics they used had promised screened, healthy donors from Western Europe. However, they began to suspect something was wrong after their children were born.

Eleven of the 30 children have since undergone commercial DNA tests, which indicate that they have Turkish or neighbouring-country genetic ancestry.

The findings suggest that the donors selected by their parents may not have been used.

Most of the children who underwent DNA testing were conceived through IVF between 2012 and 2024 at Dogus.

The families are now left with unanswered questions about the identity and medical history of their children’s biological donors.

“These reports are deeply concerning,” said Laura Bridgens, founder of Donor Conceived UK. She said it was a fundamental human right for people conceived with donor assistance to know the truth about their origins.

Mother discovers different sperm donor was used

Rachel said she had spent years wondering whether the wrong sperm donor had been used during her treatment at Dogus IVF Centre.

After reading the BBC’s initial report, she and her 13-year-old son, Jona, who was conceived with donor assistance, decided to undergo DNA testing.

The results showed that her concerns were justified.

“I thought the clinic had made an isolated mistake,” she said. After learning that other families had come forward, however, she said it appeared to be “something much bigger and much more deceptive”.

Rachel chose Dogus in 2012 after being impressed by the “helpful and friendly” patient coordinator Julie Hodson. Hodson acted as a link between Rachel and Dr Firdevs Uguz Tip, who provided her treatment.

Rachel, who was 39 at the time, needed a sperm donor so that her eggs could be fertilised in a laboratory and an embryo created before being transferred to her womb.

The IVF package cost around €4,000 – approximately £3,200 at the time – considerably less than comparable treatment in the UK. It included donor sperm from Cryos International in Denmark.

Rachel selected an anonymous Danish sperm donor through the Cryos website. The donor was listed under the name Ditto, rather than his real name, and had indicated that he would be willing for any child conceived using his sperm to learn his identity at the age of 18.

“I wanted any child of mine to have the option of being able to contact the donor,” Rachel said.

Several patient coordinators at the clinic, including Hodson, told Rachel that Firdevs would arrange the order for the donor’s sperm.

Rachel travelled to the occupied north for her fertility treatment and became pregnant shortly afterwards.

She said she first became concerned that Ditto was not the donor when patient coordinators, including Hodson, repeatedly refused to provide her with a medical report confirming that his sperm had been used.

When Jona was born, his physical appearance also raised questions, as it differed significantly from both Rachel’s appearance and the description in Ditto’s profile.

After 13 years of uncertainty, DNA tests carried out by Rachel and Jona indicate that he is her biological son but that Ditto was not his sperm donor.

After examining the DNA results, BBC News contacted Cryos. The company said it had no record showing that it had ever supplied sperm to Dogus.

This was despite Dogus promoting its relationship with the sperm bank for years as a key advantage of the clinic.

The finding has strengthened the concerns of several families that they were misled about the identities of the sperm donors used in their treatments.

Experts question negligence or deception

There could be many more cases, according to the BBC investigation.

When the BBC presented its findings to a number of fertility experts, they said they were shocked by the possibility that 30 children could have been affected.

The accidental use of the wrong donor during an IVF procedure is extremely rare, they said. The apparent repetition of such errors could point to “negligence” or “deception”.

According to the British Fertility Society, the cases could indicate a “systemic problem” extending beyond an individual doctor or clinic.

Of the 15 cases linked to Dogus, three members of staff appear repeatedly.

Dr Sevket Alpturk is the owner and “responsible director” of the clinic. According to the Turkish Cypriot authorities, his role includes approving all procedures and activities.

He treated the parents of six children at Dogus who told the BBC they suspected the wrong sperm or egg donors may have been used.

Alpturk did not respond to the BBC’s questions about the allegations.

The other nine children linked to Dogus were treated by Firdevs. She said, however, that Alpturk was responsible for approving procedures at the clinic and denied ever misleading patients.

Firdevs was also the doctor involved in nine other similar cases at two different clinics after leaving Dogus in 2015.

Most of those cases took place at Miracle IVF, which she now runs. She maintains that the clinic has always complied with the law.

She also said patients sign consent forms explaining the donor selection process. However, many of the parents interviewed by the BBC said they had not been adequately informed.

Firdevs has worked at Miracle IVF since 2019.

Patient coordinator questioned

Julie Hodson was another person linked to several of the Dogus cases and served as the main point of contact for many British patients.

In emails to patients, she repeatedly stated that Firdevs would order sperm from Cryos on their behalf.

Firdevs, however, told the BBC that sourcing sperm was not part of her duties and that she was unaware patients had been told otherwise.

Hodson was one of Dogus’s patient coordinators.

The BBC asked Hodson whether she had deliberately failed to place orders with Cryos or failed to pass patients’ requests to Dogus staff. She did not respond to the requests for comment.

Both Hodson and Firdevs have also been accused of dismissing or ignoring patients who contacted them with concerns that the wrong donors had been used.

Responding to the investigation, Cryos chief executive Ole Schou said he was “shocked by how many families may have been affected”.

The sperm bank told the BBC that it had blacklisted Dogus in 2016 because it was concerned that the clinic had not ordered sperm from Cryos for a patient despite saying that it would do so.

Cryos has now also suspended its relationship with Firdevs and Miracle IVF pending the completion of the investigation by the Turkish Cypriot authorities.

Firdevs says she has since been cleared of any allegations of violating the law, although the BBC could not independently confirm the claim with the Turkish Cypriot health authorities.

Families left with unanswered questions

It may never be established who was ultimately responsible for the alleged use of wrong donors in the fertility treatments.

For much of his life, Jona believed he was half Danish. DNA testing has now revealed that he has Turkish and southern European ancestry.

“Thankfully, Jona was excited to learn more about his ancestry,” Rachel said.

“Even so, what happened is not acceptable. It is something huge and it could have been absolutely traumatic for him.”

The IVF donor concerns have left affected families seeking answers about their children’s biological origins and medical histories.

Also read: Occupied Cyprus IVF clinics face claims of using wrong donors
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