DNA tests will be used to determine if a fertinilty clinic doctor has fathered 200 children by his own sperm instead of using donors, it has been reported.
Jan Karbaat from Holland, who died in 2017 aged 89, had always denied the allegations but had refused to cooperate with those who wanted tests conducted.
A group of 22 people, all of whom were conceived at Mr Karbaat’s clinic in Barendrecht, south of Rotterdam, have now won the right for the DNA tests after a court ruled there was sufficient evidence to suggest the fertility doctor may have used his own sperm.
Initially in 2017 the group had failed in their attempts to secure the DNA tests when the Karbaat family lawyer successfully argued the privacy of the deceased, Mr Karbaat, should be respected.
The judge did however grant permission for his DNA to be taken from personal items and secured in a safe.
Since the hearing two years ago there have been significant developments.
DNA taken from Mr Karbaat’s son was found to have a “relevant biological relationship” to that of 47 people conceived at the clinic, according to CNN.
The court also said it was “undisputed that a number of donor children have similarities in appearance” to Mr Karbaat.
Mr Karbaat had worked as a fertility doctor for decades and when his clinic was shut down in 2009 a number of “abuses with donor seeds and administrative abuses” were discovered.
He has been accused of falsifying data – a claim he denied.
