Sperm Donor Passes Heart Defect to 9 Kids

(AP)  A sperm donor passed on a potentially deadly genetic heart condition to nine of his 24 children, including one who died at age 2 from heart failure, according to a medical journal report.

Two children, both now teenagers, have developed symptoms and are at risk for sudden cardiac death, the report says. It's the second documented instance of a genetic condition being inherited through sperm donation.

The latest case highlights the importance of thoroughly screening sperm donors, according to the report and an editorial published with it in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association.

The San Francisco sperm bank involved now gives all donors electrocardiogram tests to weed out men with genetic heart problems; the study authors recommend that other sperm banks follow suit.

Voluntary sperm bank guidelines say donors should be required to provide a complete medical history to rule out those with infectious diseases or a family history of inherited diseases. Many also do testing but for genetic diseases that are less common than the heart problem, according to co-author Dr. Barry Maron of the Minneapolis Heart Institute, a leading authority on the condition called hypertrophic cardiomyopathy.

Hypertrophic cardiomyopathy thickens the heart and makes it harder to pump blood. It affects about one in 500 people; many more likely have the genetic defect without symptoms, said study co-author Heidi Rehm of Harvard Medical School.

Symptoms can include an irregular heartbeat and shortness of breath but many cases go undetected until sudden death. The condition is often the culprit when young athletes collapse and die suddenly. Treatment includes medication and an implanted defibrillator to prevent sudden death.

Neither the sperm bank nor the donor were identified. The donor, now 42, had no symptoms of genetic heart disease and no obvious family history when he donated sperm in the early 1990s. His own condition wasn't diagnosed until after a child born through sperm donation was diagnosed. Maron declined to provide more details on the donor's health, citing privacy concerns.

The children are now ages 7 to 16. Nine, including one born to the donor's own wife, tested positive for the heart mutation. One born through sperm donation died; two others have developed symptoms, with one getting a defibrillator. The remaining children are at increased risk for problems, which often don't show up until adolescence, Maron said.

The only other documented case of a disease inherited through sperm donation involved a rare blood disease.

[hockeymom441]

This is a strange article. So let me get this straight... people who need sperm donors expect perfect genetics... "need to improve screening..." come on! No one's genes are perfect; that's just life.

This is sad, of course, but are the recipients honestly wishing they had not had their children! B/C that's basically what this implies, If only they had known....

[rf35]

I think sperm donation is a bad idea anyway. There are too many kids being born as it is. If yu don't have a husband, don't have kids. If your husband can't produce children, maybe there's a reason for that. If you simply MUST have a rug-rat, adopt instead.

[jennifer-marie]

That is insane!

I am a firm believer that any American looking to adopt a child should look within her own country instead of adopting overseas -- but if a woman is capable (both physically and financially) of giving birth to a child and raising that child, she has that right! No other person has a right to tell that woman that "there's a reason" for her not being able to conceive with her husband or that she needs to be married to have children.

[[That's the problem with this country today: everyone is so convinced they know what is right and what is wrong, and they're entirely focused on pushing those personal beliefs on everyone else.)

That said, I think these women need to understand that no one person has perfect genes. If they'd gotten pregnant in the conventional way, there would be just as many genetic possibilities for defects. It's very sad that these children have a lifetime of medical problems ahead of them, but that's nature.

[rf35]

jennifer-marie,
I am not trying to "push personal befiefs" on anybody. I am stating my opinion in a comment section. That's what people do in comment sections. I could just as easily accuse you of pushing your personal belief that any capable woman has the right to have a child by whatever means are necessary.
Another opinion that I will state (since I am an American and have the right to do so) is that I think people should be required to get a license to reproduce. Now, feel free to attack that opinion all you want, but don't attack me for pushing my beliefs on anybody.

[Ichabod09]

Spare the rod and spoil the child?

[rf35]

ROFL!