Brabant gynecologist used own sperm to inseminate women; Fathered 3 children

Former gynecologist Henk Ruis from Noord-Brabant used his own sperm to father at least three children, according to fertility center Nij Geertgen and the organization Fiom, which helps people with parentage research. So far, they've found three people whose DNA matches the doctor.

In June, Fiom received a report from someone who thought they were Dr. Ruis's child. When their parents decided to start a family, they asked that the father's sperm be used in artificial insemination. According to Nij Geerten, an investigation revealed that Ruis used his own sperm.

Ruis cooperated in including his DNA in the Fiom database. "It has now been shown that three children's DNA profiles match Dr. Ruis's DNA profile," said Fiom. "So we have found three children of Ruis."

Gyenecologist Ruis worked at the Liduina Hospital in Boxtel, now part of the Jeroen Bosch Hospital, in the 1980s and 1990s. Until 2005, he worked at the Sint Joseph Hospital in Veghel (now part of Bernhoven) with his own practice called Stichting Geertgen. From 2008, the foundation was located in Elsendorp, and in 2014 the organization continued under the name Nij Geertgen after bankruptcy.

The organization emphasized that “with the current professional setup of the new clinic and laboratory” and the current legislation on donor sperm, it is “impossible” that “such an event could ever happen again.” Donor children who want to know whether Ruis may also be their father can report to Fiom.

Ruis reacted to the report in the Volkskrant. He said it was a “total surprise” to him. According to him, this was not intentional, but his semen got mixed up with the semen of the intended father or was accidentally mixed up. His semen was in the lab “to improve the freezing procedure,” he said to the newspaper.

Earlier this year, the Donorkind Foundation reported that at least 10 fertility doctors used their own sperm to inseminate women, including the well-known cases of Jan Karbaat, Jan Wildschut, and Jos Beek.