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A former sperm donor may have passed on a heritable and treatable cancer-causing illness to half of the children created with his sperm, but they will never know if they are harbouring the illness.

Henrik Koch, 60, came forward to Berlingske newspaper to express his concern that not more was done to look for the children who could be carrying a genetic illness known as Lynch Syndrome.

“For many years I have felt bad that a number of children have probably inherited my illness without knowing it,” Koch told Berlingske. “I don’t care that I am drawing attention to myself. If one woman has her child genetically tested and that test prevents a deadly illness, then it’s worth putting myself forward.”

Koch tested positive for the illness in 1997 and subsequently informed the health authorities with the hope of tracking down the children. Children fathered by Koch's' sperm have a 50-50 chance of being carriers of the illness and risk developing an aggressive form of cancer typically between ages 30 and 50.

But even though the mortality rate can be...