After his initial shock at hearing his parents' secret, Mr Van Halen was curious to discover his biological father's identity, but could not obtain details from the donor clinic under anonymity rules. After providing a swab of saliva, Mr Van Halen was able to receive results online two months later and was fortunate that many relatives had also taken the test. He told The Times: 'I found my biological father and 42 half-siblings right away.' A Dutch government organisation for donor-conceived people estimates that up to 1,000 children may have been conceived from sperm from Mr Van Halen's biological father, who donated regularly at three clinics over 20 years. The clinics provided sperm across Europe, including in the UK, and Mr Van Halen suspects that he may have half-siblings in this country.

Source: Daily Mail September 29, 2018 10:22 UTC