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The head of a Dutch fertility clinic is accused of using his own sperm and not that of selected donors to father dozens of children.

Twenty three parents and children of those born through IVF treatment at Bijdorp medical centre, in Rotterdam, have gone to court to ask for DNA tests on Jan Karbaat, who died aged 89 last month. Karbaat, who ran one of the country’s largest sperm banks in the 80s and 90s, billed himself as “a pioneer in the field of fertilization”.

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But reports began to emerge last year that suggested he may have been fathering the children he helped to conceive.

They say it feels like they were raped by Karbaat

Women who used the clinic report were told by Karbaat that he was fetching “fresh seed” from a room next to the insemination area.

They say there are strong similarities between Karbaat and their children – including genetic features such as eye colour – that don’t match with their official donor’s characteristics. Karbaat reportedly admitted to having fathered about 60 children at the clinic, which closed in 2009 amid reports of irregularities, and requested in his will that no DNA tests be carried out on him post mortem.