Turkish Cypriot authorities seek BBC information over IVF donor claims

Nicosia, Cyprus. Turkish Cypriot authorities have requested “concrete information” from the BBC following reports that up to 30 children may have been conceived through in vitro fertilisation using the wrong sperm or egg donors at clinics in northern Cyprus, ‘health minister’ Hakan Dincyurek said on Friday.

He said the authorities had treated the initial allegation as a tip-off, launched an investigation and written to the BBC months ago.

Request for details

Speaking to Kibris TV, Dincyurek said the authorities had informed the BBC that their findings would be made public once the investigation reached a certain stage.

He said the BBC’s report this week referred to around 30 potentially affected children, but that the ministry had not received information identifying the children or their families.

“Give us these names and the concrete information you clearly have,” he said, adding that the authorities had sent the BBC another letter requesting further details.

Investigation and consent

Dincyurek said that if an error involving a specific person was established, the information should be conveyed to the ministry to allow the investigation to be expanded.

He said direct contact with affected families would be necessary to determine whether they had been misled by IVF centres.

“You cannot conduct genetic testing on a child simply because a media outlet requests it, without the consent of, a complaint from, or a request made by the individual in question,” he said, citing personal data and bodily integrity concerns.

He said an official complaint or letter requesting an investigation must be submitted to the ministry, and that this had been conveyed to the BBC.

Dincyurek added that IVF centres in northern Cyprus are regularly inspected.