Netherlands: the father of hundreds of children is banned from donating his sperm

Europe 1 with AFP / Photo credit: ROBIN VAN LONKHUIJSEN / ANP MAG / ANP via AFP 20:12 p.m., April 28, 2023

A Dutch court on Friday banned the father of at least 550 children from donating his sperm to future parents, in a new scandal related to fertility issues that shocks the Netherlands. The "mass donor", Jonathan M., 41, according to Dutch media, risks having to pay 100,000 euros every time he breaks the ban. A mother and the Donorkind Foundation ("Donor Child") had filed summary proceedings against the man last month, noting that he continued to search for future parents on social networks.

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"I ask the donor to respect our interests"

The court said it was "plausible enough" that the expansion of the huge kinship network would have negative psychosocial consequences for the children, citing psychological problems around identity and fears of incest. Identified only as "Eva," the plaintiff mother said she was grateful to the court for preventing the man from "making mass donations, which spread like wildfire to other countries." "I ask the donor to respect our interests and accept the verdict," she said in a statement.

Donorkind explained that Eva found the man in 2018 via a dating platform, on which he promised to father a maximum of 25 children, in line with guidelines from Dutch clinics to avoid inbreeding, incest and psychological problems for donor children. The donor had actually fathered 100 children in Dutch clinics alone at the time, plus a number unknown in the private sphere and via a Danish clinic that sent his semen to private addresses in various countries, AFP read in the judgment.

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Destroy your seed

"If you allow such a huge kinship network to be born with 550 to 600 people who have half-siblings everywhere, then you are wrongly," said Gert-Mark Smelt, a spokesman for the court. The judge therefore prohibited the man from "donating his sperm to new future parents", considering that it was in the interest of the children of the father that the network does not extend further.

The donor must also send a message to all sperm banks where his semen was stored requesting its destruction. "The donor deliberately misinformed the intended parents about the number of children he had already fathered in the past," the court said.

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Prohibition of communication with intended parents

Jonathan M. is also forbidden to communicate, especially online, with new parents-to-be about his wish or willingness to give them sperm. "This is the first time a judge has ruled on such a case and it's encouraging to see this behavior immediately addressed," said Mark de Hek, one of the lawyers in the case. The Netherlands has already been hit by other fertility scandals. In 2020, a gynecologist was charged, after his death, of fathering at least 17 children with women who thought they were receiving sperm from anonymous donors.