At least 30 children, most of them British, are feared to have been conceived by IVF treatment in northern Cyprus using the wrong sperm or egg donors.

In each case, the parents suspect they did not get the donors they had selected.

The figure is one of several new findings in a BBC investigation that, earlier this year, uncovered the first seven cases.

All the parents say they carefully selected anonymous donors based on information such as their medical history, appearance, personality, education and hobbies.

However, they have concerns the requested sperm and egg donors may not have been used in their fertility treatments.

Half of the 30 children were born from procedures at one clinic, Dogus IVF Centre.

“It’s absolutely scandalous,” said one of the mothers, Rachel, who recently learned that she received the wrong sperm donor from the clinic.

Three people – Dr Firdevs Uguz Tip, Dr Sevket Alpturk, and a patient co-ordinator Julie Hodson – were involved in the care of many of these patients at Dogus.

Parents suspect these members of staff may have misled them. Firdevs denies any wrongdoing and neither Alpturk or Hodson have responded to our questions.

The BBC has also now learnt that the world’s largest sperm bank, Cryos International, has blacklisted Dogus clinic since 2016.

In northern Cyprus – a territory where European Union laws do not apply and which is only legally recognised by Turkey – clinics are loosely regulated and promise patients low prices, high success rates and a wide choice of sperm and egg donors.

The Turkish-occupied territory is one of the most popular destinations for British people seeking fertility treatment abroad.

We first revealed the emerging scandal in March where a small group of parents appeared to have been misled about donors.

Responding to the allegations, the territory’s Ministry of Health said it had launched an official investigation. However, it has not responded to our repeated requests for more information.

Since then, more parents have contacted us and their stories have concerning similarities.

The majority said the clinics they had used had promised them screened, healthy donors from Western Europe, but that they had become suspicious after their children were born.

Eleven of the 30 children have now taken commercial DNA tests which show they have inherited genetic ancestry from Turkey or surrounding countries.

This suggests their parents’ requested donors were not used.

The majority of the children who have done DNA tests were conceived through IVF between 2012 and 2024 at Dogus clinic.

Families have been left with questions about who their children’s real donors are and their medical histories.

“These reports are deeply troubling,” said Laura Bridgens, founder of the charity Donor Conceived UK. “It’s a fundamental human right for a donor-conceived person to know the truth about their origins.”

In the past few days, the UK’s Foreign Office has also updated its travel advice warning that fertility treatment in northern Cyprus “carries risks” due to a lack of regulation and it encourages those seeking IVF in the territory to conduct thorough research beforehand.

Children’s commissioner for England Dame Rachel de Souza and Department for Education scientific adviser Prof Russell Viner have reviewed the latest evidence, finding that long periods of time spent on screens alone can affect children’s sleep and physical activity, which are key to their development.

Helen and Lee Draper lost their daughter Megan to meningitis in October 2025. She was a student at Bournemouth University.

Her parents later found out she wasn’t vaccinated against the strain she had – Meningitis B.

Megan’s father Lee says it is important for parents to be aware the meningitis vaccinations that their children have protect against all strains.

Helen, Megan’s mother, says she “absolutely implores the government to reconsider this”.

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Meanwhile, Birmingham Community Healthcare NHS Foundation Trust said: “We continue to provide a package of support for Tilly, including occupational therapy, physiotherapy and speech and language therapy, and remain in regular communication with her parents about her care.”

The parents of the last dead hostage in Gaza have spoken to the BBC about their desperate wait for his body to be returned.

Itzik and Talik Gvili insisted the Gaza peace deal could not progress until Hamas handed over the remains of their son Ran, a 24-year-old Israeli police officer also known as Rani.

“We really hope that all people in the world… want to end this situation and go to the second phase, so Hamas must bring Rani home,” his mother Talik said, after Israel confirmed the body of Thai national Suthisak Rintalak had been returned on Wednesday.

He and Ran were among 251 people taken hostage in the Hamas-led attack on Israel on 7 October 2023, when another 1,200 people were killed.

Ran was killed while fighting Hamas gunmen in Kibbutz Alumim, and his body was subsequently taken to Gaza as a hostage, according to the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).

His parents said he was on medical leave with a broken shoulder at the time of the attacks but went to fight after seeing on television what was happening.

“He couldn’t stay at home even though he was injured. He took my car and his uniform… and went to help in the fight against the terrorists,” said his father Itzik.

“He saved Kibbutz Alumim… and he saved Israel, so Israel has to save him now and bring him back home,” he added.

While the couple have been told by Israeli officials that Ran was killed, they say they are still holding onto “a little percent” of hope “that maybe he’s alive, maybe he’s survived”.

“We want closure,” said Talik.

Speaking during a visit to London, Ran’s parents described their pain over the past 26 months, much of which they have spent campaigning for the return of all the living and dead hostages.

Under the first phase of a US-brokered ceasefire deal, which took effect on 10 October, Hamas agreed to return the final 20 living Israeli hostages and the bodies of the 28 dead Israeli and foreign hostages still in Gaza within 72 hours.

All the living hostages were released on 13 October in exchange for 250 Palestinian prisoners and 1,718 detainees from Gaza, but it has taken weeks for the bodies of the dead hostages to be returned, often only one at a time.

“When Hamas bring one of the hostages home we don’t know who it is, maybe it’s Rani, maybe it’s someone else… It’s like roulette. You cannot imagine the fright and the hope and everything. Sometimes it’s not a hostage” at all, said Talik, referring to several sets of remains handed over that have turned out to belong to dead Palestinians.

“My wish is that no mother will feel what I feel in the whole world. We are strong people, but what is inside, you cannot imagine… They stole my child and I can do nothing – just pray and come to visit people and beg for help.”

Talik said she had not slept for a full night since 7 October 2023.

“You feel that you have 5,000 kilos on your chest. We don’t have night. We don’t have day. We have nothing,” she said.

While they are now the only people in Israel waiting for a loved one to be returned from Gaza, they said the support around them has grown.

“All the families are together with us and all Israeli people are with us. It [the support] is bigger than before because all Israeli people are now focused on one thing – bring Ran home and then do the second phase [of the peace deal],” said Talik.

The couple said that after Ran’s return, they hoped for lasting peace and for Hamas to be dismantled.

“We are very proud of Ran. He’s a hero in Israel. Hamas made Ran a hero… We want him back and to try to sleep well and breathe well again.”

Earlier on Thursday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also described Ran as a “hero of Israel”, saying he had “eliminated 14 terrorists and did so with the utmost bravery” before being killed in battle.

“We are determined to bring Ran back for a proper Jewish burial and we will spare no effort to do so,” he vowed.

Israel responded to the 7 October 2023 attack by launching a military campaign in Gaza, during which more than 70,120 people have been killed, according to the territory’s Hamas-run health ministry.

Parents are being urged to get their children vaccinated against flu over half-term as the NHS warned of rising cases of the disease.

There is an early flu season, health officials say, and the latest data for England showed cases and hospitalisations were increasing.

NHS England said many school children will have already received the vaccine at school but there are still options for those who have not, including pop-up clinics.

GP surgeries can give flu vaccines to school-aged children and those with certain health conditions, as well as two to three year olds, while preschoolers can also be taken to pharmacies for the vaccine.

Most children are offered the vaccine in a nasal spray rather than an injection.

NHS England’s weekly flu and Covid surveillance report said there was increased flu activity “particularly among children”.

Duncan Burton, chief nursing officer for England, said it was concerning that the flu had hit early this year and the increase among children was “worrying”.

“Flu can spread like wildfire across schools and can make children really unwell,” he said.

“The virus changes each year, so vaccination remains the best way to shield your child from getting seriously ill.”

He urged parents to make sure they had opted their child in for an in-school vaccine or find their nearest clinic.

Pop-up clinics were being held in places like bowling alleys and fire stations, Mr Burton told BBC Radio 4’s Today programme, adding that the vaccine was “quick, easy and safe”.

Dr Fari Ahmad told BBC Breakfast that while she was seeing cases, “I don’t think we’ve quite hit the peak yet”.

“With flu, this is a war we have every year. Flu is unpredictable, it still kills people and every year we try to get enough people vaccinated so that when the big surge comes we are not decimated,” she said.

Dr Ahmad said that getting enough school-age children vaccinated meant that it made that surge better, “because they are spreaders”.

“It will be great for the kids individually but it will also be better for all of us,” she said.

NHS England said more than 10 million vaccines have already been delivered in the latest campaign, including to almost 1.5 million school-aged children and more than 300,000 eligible two and three year olds.

Free vaccines are available to those older than 65, with certain long-term health conditions, are pregnant, live in a care home, the main carer for an older or disabled person or live with someone who has a weakened immune system.

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