to Bengt fatherhood is a serious matter.
He and his wife had long discussions about parenting before they started trying for a child. Together, they concluded that the responsibility for the child would last a lifetime – even if the relationship ended.
The couple had a hard time getting pregnant, so they decided to undergo a fertility test at Halmstad Hospital on the west coast of Sweden. Finally they had a daughter.
But the couple’s first child was not Bengt’s first. The doctor at the hospital had used his sperm sample in insemination, i.e. artificial insemination, without permission.
– This child, about whom I have known nothing, was born before my daughter. It bothers me terribly, Bengt says to Swedish television (SVT).
He appears in the program only as “Bengt”.
– My sperm was used before I was a father myself. It’s incredibly offensive. It hurts.
Bengt says he would never have agreed to be a donor. The father’s role is so important to him.
He met his unknown daughter for the first time In SVT’s investigative journalism program Uppdrag granskning. (you switch to another service)
Five men’s sperm used without permission
SVT reveals in two programs (you switch to another service), that at least five different men’s sperm have been used in inseminations without their knowledge. Five children were born from the treatments, three of which are siblings.
The artificial inseminations were carried out between 1985 and 1996, and SVT has traced the children’s fathers with the help of a DNA genealogist. Also a newspaper Dagens Nyheter (you switch to another service) tells about the incident.
– Where else would a person go if it is difficult to have a child? We went to the hospital, of course, not some dark basement. None of us have done anything wrong, Bengt says to Dagens Nyheter.
Sweden’s artificial insemination law was amended in March 1985, and children’s right to their biological origin was strengthened. According to the law, children born from donated sperm or eggs have the right to receive information about their biological parents.
Immediately after the law change, the number of sperm donors decreased considerably. The doctor’s misconduct that became public happened after the change in the law.
“We have the same mouth and nose”
Bengt and his unknown daughter Rebecca Kristoffersson have lived about five kilometers apart, and Rebecka has attended the same school as her half-sister.
– You feel it in your body all the time. I think about it from morning to night. That I have not known for 32 years that I have offspring five kilometers from home, Bengt says to Dagens Nyheter.
The first meeting between father and daughter, organized by SVT’s Uppdrag granskning, was emotional.
– We have the same mouth, and the nose is…
– I’m completely out of my mind, says Bengt.
– We have almost the same glasses, says Rebecka.
Rebecka’s siblings also got their start through artificial insemination, and SVT’s research shows that they all got their start from sperm stolen from their father.
– We could never have believed this. Maybe one of us, but all three?! It’s really sick, says Rebecka’s sister Alexandra Pihl For Dagens Nyheter.
The hospital regrets what happened
The doctor who used stolen sperm in Halmstad hospital for artificial insemination has died. According to the information SVT received from the hospital, 35 children were born from artificial insemination performed by a doctor with donated gametes.
In the cases investigated by SVT, the children have either received incorrect information about their biological father from the hospital registers or they have not received any information.
The hospital cannot answer whether it is possible that there are more children fertilized with stolen sperm.
– It is unfortunate that abuses have taken place and the operation has not been at its best, the chairman of the board that guides the operation of Halmstad Hospital Christian Lidén says to SVT.
The hospital’s apologies do not convince Bengt.
– It’s theft. Fraud. I use the word rape! Although the end result is good, a child has been made with my sperm without my knowledge.
Although SVT’s Uppdrag granskning revealed the first sperm thefts already in the fall, the hospital has not informed its former patients about possible abuses.
Dagens Nyheter (you switch to another service) says that the regional administration of Hallanni, which is responsible for hospital operations, has appointed an external investigator to investigate the abuses of the Halmstad hospital.