How a sperm donor fathered 550 Children – Report

A man who fathered over 550 children through sperm donation has been ordered by a court in the Hague to provide a list of all the clinics he had used and to order them to destroy his sperm.

Dutch clinical guidelines states that a donor should not father more than 25 children in 12 families. Donors are also asked to limit the number of times they offer their services, to reduce the chance that siblings might unknowingly form a couple and have children together.

However, the court found that the man had helped produce between 550 and 600 children since he began donating sperm in 2007 according to a BBC report.

The report added that the man was banned from donating to fertility clinics in the Netherlands in 2017 after it emerged, he had fathered more than 100 children. However, he continued to donate sperm abroad and online, misleading hundreds of women in the process. He was then taken to court by a foundation protecting donor children’s rights, as well as by the mother of one of the children allegedly fathered from his sperm.

The court has ordered him to provide a list of all the clinics he had used and to instruct them to destroy his sperm.

“The court “prohibits the defendant from donating his semen to new prospective parents after the issuing of this judgment”.

“The man is also not permitted to contact any prospective parents “with the wish that he was willing to donate semen… advertise his services to prospective parents or join any organisation that establishes contact between prospective parents,” BBC quoted the sitting judge (Judge Thera Hesselink) to have said.

The report furthered that the Dutchman named Jonathan, aged 41, could be fined more than €100,000 (£88,000) if he tries to donate again.