Dutch sperm donor who fathered over 550 children asked to halt by court

The 41-year-old man's name was disclosed only as Jonathan M by Dutch media.

Jonathan was brought to court by both a foundation that safeguards the rights of children conceived through donor sperm and a woman who claimed that one of her children was fathered by his sperm.

The Hague District Court stated that the man had provided false information regarding his previous and intended sperm donations as well as the total number of children he had fathered, leading to the decision that he is not permitted to donate sperm to future parents, reported The New York Times.

“All 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,” the court stated.

The clinical guidelines in the Netherlands states that a sperm donor should father a maximum of 25 children within 12 families.

The judges determined that the man had fathered approximately 550 to 600 children since he began donating sperm in 2007.

According to a 2017 report, Mr. Meijer was found to have fathered 102 children via Dutch clinics from 2007 to 2017, stated The New York Times.

From 2015 to 2018, he also provided sperm donations to a Danish fertility clinic, which did not enforce a limit on the number of children that could be produced from donated sperm at the time and sent semen to individuals in other countries.

Additionally, Mr. Meijer advertised his sperm on different social media platforms in the Netherlands and abroad. The court also noted that he remains in contact with multiple parents.

The court thus "prohibits the defendant from donating his semen to new prospective parents after the issuing of this judgment," stated judge Thera Hesselink on Friday.

The judge ruled that if he were to continue his sperm donations, he would be subjected to a penalty of €100,000 (£88,000) for every violation, along with other fines.

"Eva," the mother of one of the children involved in the legal proceedings, expressed gratitude that the court had put an end to the man's "mass donations that [have] spread like wildfire to other countries," stated The Guardian.

“I’m asking the donor to respect our interests and to accept the verdict, because our children deserve to be left alone,” she stated further.

Jonathan M fathered over 100 of his children at Dutch clinics or through private means, in addition to donating sperm to a Danish clinic called Cryos, which subsequently delivered his semen to personal addresses across multiple countries, as stated in court documents.

“The donor deliberately misinformed prospective parents about the number of children he had already fathered in the past,” the court said.

“All 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,” the court added.

The court determined that there is a credible possibility of negative psychosocial effects on the children, such as identity issues and concerns regarding incest.

The spokesperson for the court, Gert-Mark Smelt, stated that the network of kinship consisting of hundreds of half-brothers and half-sisters is far too extensive.

“The interests of the children weigh too heavily and that is why it is forbidden for the gentleman to give further semen," he added.

The case is part of a series of fertility controversies that have emerged in the Netherlands, said The Guardian.

In 2020, a gynaecologist who had passed away was alleged to have fathered a minimum of 17 children with women who assumed they were receiving sperm from anonymous donors.

In the previous year, it was revealed that a doctor in Rotterdam had fathered no less than 49 children while inseminating women undergoing fertility treatment.