Hospital ordered to pay damages after gynecologist used own semen to impregnate patient

Isala Hospital in Zwolle has been ordered to pay damages to a woman who became pregnant after a gynecologist used his own semen instead of that of her husband. The hospital is liable, the Court of Appeal in Leeuwarden ruled. The woman’s children will also receive compensation, although the amount has yet to be determined and will be set at a later stage.

In 1985, the woman sought medical help at what was then known as the Sophie Ziekenhuis, now Isala, after being unable to conceive for several years. She was treated by gynecologist Jan Wildschut. Following several examinations and treatments, she was found to be pregnant with triplets in the autumn of 1988. The children were born on November 1, 1988.

In 2019, it emerged that Wildschut had used his own semen to impregnate multiple women. This prompted one of the triplets to undergo a DNA test, which revealed that the gynecologist was their biological father, rather than the man they believed to be their father, who died in 2016.

According to the Court of Appeal, the mother stated that when she learned what had actually happened, she experienced the insemination as a rape. She also told the court that she felt she had been used by the gynecologist as a “breeding machine.”

The court held the hospital responsible for allowing Wildschut to use his own sperm and for failing to properly supervise him. It also ruled that the hospital bears responsibility for the children not knowing their true biological father for decades.

In 2024, a court in Zwolle rejected the family’s claims, ruling that they were time-barred. Isala raised the same argument on appeal, but the Court of Appeal in Leeuwarden dismissed it.

The judges concluded that the parents acted within a reasonable timeframe after learning in September 2021 that the gynecologist had used his own sperm, noting that holding the hospital liable in February 2022 was timely. Isala said it is reviewing the ruling and will decide on possible next steps later.