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A 41-year-old man who fathered more than 550 children worldwide and lying about it to parents has been banned from donating any more of his sperm.
This ruling comes as the result of a lawsuit filed against him by a foundation that serves to protect donor children’s rights, and by the mother of one of the children he allegedly fathered.
He had previously been banned from donating to fertility clinics in the Netherlands in 2017 when it was learned that he had fathered more than 100 children there. Dutch clinical guidelines state that donors are allowed to father a maximum of 25 children with 12 mothers.
However, rather than cease donating sperm, the man, only identified as Jonathon M. from the Netherlands, took his talents abroad and started donating his sperm online through advertisements and online forums.
Sky News reports…
His lawyer said his client wanted to help people who would otherwise be unable to conceive.
But the judge who heard the civil case said the donor “deliberately lied about this in order to persuade the parents to take him as a donor,” according to a statement from the court.
Judge Thera Hesselink added that these parents are “now confronted with the fact that the children in their family are part of a huge kinship network with hundreds of half-siblings, which they did not choose.”
He is now prohibited “from donating his semen to new prospective parents after the issuing of this judgment.”
The man, who is believed to have fathered between 550 and 600 children since he began donating sperm in 2007, could face a fine of up to $110,000 if he is ever caught donating sperm again.
In 2019, a fertility doctor in the Netherlands was found to be the father of 49 children after he used his own sperm to inseminate patients without their consent.