Dr Jan Karbaat, whose children are known as”Karbaatkinderen”, impregnated the women at a clinic near Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

The tests were made when a court agreed to release his DNA in February after the doctor’s children and their parents took legal action.

Results released on Friday showed that Dr Karbaat, who died in 2017 at the age of 89, fathered 49 children, most of whom are now in their thirties.

His family had fought against the release of the DNA, which the media reported was taken from items such as a toothbrush locked in a safe.

Martijn van Halen, one of the children, told the news website nrc.nl: “It’s nice to know for sure. It gives peace.”