Flemish Descent Center traces donor fathers via commercial DNA databases. Donorkinderen vzw files a complaint.

Antwerp, Saturday March 4, 2023 : “At the beginning of February, Minister Crevits announced that the Ancestry Center will receive an additional 100,000 euros in subsidies annually.” starts Steph Raeymaekers, chairman of Donorkinderen vzw. “There is nothing wrong with allocating additional resources, but we do not understand why this happened without any audit of their operation or delivery of effective results.”

The Flemish Descent Center was founded in 2020 to respond to parentage questions from various groups: adoptees, donor children, metis, distance parents, etc. The operating framework is rather limited, as it  must not violate other legislation.

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For example, donor children may only find their donor father or mother through the center by voluntarily registering their DNA in the database of the Center for Genetics in Leuven. Only if there is a first-degree match that confirms the parent-child relationship can they come into contact with each other.

This restriction was included very specifically in the decree because other existing legislation prioritises the anonymity of donors. In this way, the aim is to avoid finding information via a detour or without mutual consent. 

Donorkinderen vzw established that employees affiliated with the Ancestry Center trace donor parents through international DNA databases and the development of family trees. The Descent Center thus violates the founding and operating decree.

“The cabinet has now been notified and we have submitted an official complaint to the Growing Up Department.” she continues. “We were also very surprised when we saw one of the permanent employees of the Ancestry Center appear with her DNA profile in the commercial DNA database MyHeritage. Her profile is managed by none other than Ankie Vandekerckhove, the coordinator of the Ancestry Center. Bought a DNA test with public funds, perhaps?”

“We have been asking questions about the operation, deontology and integrity of the Ancestry Center for some time now. Now that there are concrete indications, we can no longer watch as a government-subsidized organization violates the founding decree and deliberately makes things appear different than they are. All this purely for their own benefit and at the expense of other organizations and target groups.” says Steph Raeymaekers.

“We count on a thorough investigation and transparency in findings. If violations are found, we hope that the minister will act correctly and, if necessary, impose sanctions. In addition, we call on policymakers to first evaluate the entire field and no longer blindly spend subsidies on their own initiatives, but to distribute them to organizations that demonstrably make a real difference,” she concludes.

Donor Children vzw

In 2014, Donorkinderen vzw was founded with the aim of not only promoting the rights, interests and well-being of donor children, but also representing and defending them in the social debate in various areas.