Quebec is considering tightening regulations surrounding sperm donation in the province after a documentary was released that revealed three men from the same family fathered hundreds of children.
The series by Noovo Info entitled “Pere 100 enfants” revealed that the trio acted as sperm donors for women across Quebec who were using the Internet to try to become pregnant.
Quebec’s director of public health, Dr. Luc Boileau said: an interview with Noovo Info on Monday that he was “shocked” by the documentary. He said he wants to minimize the risks of artificial insemination by setting a maximum number of donations per donor, something other countries have already done, including France, the Netherlands and Belgium.
According to the documentary by journalists Marie-Christine Bergeron and Maxime Landry, the three men from Quebec fathered at least 600 children. Two of the donors also carry a rare inherited genetic liver disease that could be passed on to the children.
“Nobody in Canada expected this either. This is a new situation,” Boileau said, adding that he is in discussions with his colleagues at Health Canada to consider setting new limits for donors.
Boileau also said public health is studying how to inform affected mothers and their children that they are genetically linked to hundreds of half-brothers and half-sisters “to reduce the risk of inbreeding.”
Producing hundreds of children is a “public health problem”: Dubé
Quebec Health Minister Christian Dubé responded to Noovo’s reporting on Tuesday, saying the documentary exposed a “public health problem.”
“I think it’s particularly worrying for parents who have used reproductive services to know, ‘Could my boy or girl have contact with one of the other children?’ “This is worrying in terms of public health,” he said at a press briefing in the National Assembly on Tuesday.
The minister says he will meet with Boileau on Wednesday to see what can be done. “We will find solutions,” Dubé said, referring to the idea of a “regulatory response.”
Opposition parties also called on the CAQ government to put an end to what the Quebec Liberal Party called the “Wild West” of sperm donation.
With files from Noovo Info and The Canadian Press
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