Two British women sought IVF treatment at a fertility clinic in the occupied north, and between them had two children using a sperm donor selected from a reputable Danish sperm bank.
Their explicit request was that both children share the same biological father. But as they revealed in an interview with the BBC, DNA tests showed that the children have no genetic connection to the donor they chose, and no genetic connection to each other.
This is not an isolated case. The same report identified seven other children born with genetic material different from what their families had selected. It is the second such case in a year centred on British nationals and fertility clinics operating in the occupied north.
Last year, a same-sex couple had a child through a surrogate in the occupied north and subsequently found themselves trapped in the Republic of Cyprus, with no documents or birth certificate from a recognised state.
Over recent years, a full-blown fertility industry has taken root in the occupied north, thriving precisely because of the total absence of oversight or legal accountability. It draws clients from abroad, predominantly British nationals, who are seeking cheaper and less restrictive routes to parenthood.
According to earlier reports, clinics in the occupied north offer all-inclusive packages, complete with luxury hotel accommodation and ancillary services, at prices well below those in legitimate jurisdictions.
Surrogacy is banned or strictly regulated across most European countries, and same-sex adoption is prohibited in others. In the occupied north, everything goes. Practices that are illegal internationally, such as sex selection, are also on offer.
The same clinics have expanded into even more troubling territory: illegal surrogacy networks and adoption procedures that operate entirely outside any international protection framework.
The occupied north is the land of opportunity for mafiosi, swindlers, procurers and smugglers.
None of this is new, but it has now been documented in detail by the Global Organised Crime Index 2024/2025, drawing on Interpol data. The report makes specific reference to human trafficking for sexual exploitation and forced labour, migrant smuggling, arms and drug trafficking, and money laundering through casinos and other front operations.
On surrogacy specifically, there is now evidence of the trafficking of women from Georgia, recruited and transported to the occupied north by networks operating across the Caucasus, Turkey, and the occupied territory.
Serious questions also arise about the fate of children produced within this system. Do they actually reach the families who commissioned them, or are some funnelled into international networks of illegal adoption or child exploitation?
None of this happens in the shadows. It is advertised openly and systematically across websites, digital platforms, and social media, with short clips of smiling couples sharing their success stories.
As the revelations have mounted in recent years, the question that demands an answer is why this system of exploitation of women, children, and couples continues to operate without any international intervention. And above all, why the authorities of the Republic of Cyprus continue to tolerate it.
Particularly after last year’s revelation that one such clinic was operating a branch in Limassol, channelling clients directly to the occupied north.
