Tall, blond, with blue eyes and long hair.
This is the physical appearance of Jonathan M., 41, the Dutch sperm donor who can have at least 550 children and has appeared this Thursday before a court of First Instance in The Hague.
Sued by one of the mothers, named Eva, it is the first time that such a case has come to court in the Netherlands.
Jonathan M. deceived her by saying that he did not intend to have more than 25 children, the maximum number allowed for this type of insemination, and the woman has asked the judges to prohibit him from continuing with her activity.
He has regretted being presented as "a rabid bull with a reproductive desire", and considers that imposing a veto would amount to "a serious attack on his physical integrity".
His lawyer has described it as an "attempt at legal castration."
The Dutch Donorkind Foundation,
that facilitates contact between the offspring thus born, in turn signs the legal action.
Both parties have not reached an agreement and the ruling is expected on April 28.
The room for the session was full and they had to set up another room for the public.
Dressed in gray and with a tanned face, Jonathan M., who calls himself a "donor potato", has assured that he is "vaccinated and very healthy".
He has then qualified the donations of his “work”.
He defines it as "a service with added value", because he lends himself to having contact with his offspring.
He goes, as he affirms, to births, birthdays and delivery of school diplomas.
On the contrary, Donorkind considers that this case is "a strange social experiment" that must be concluded immediately, and his demand included a request for a fine of 100,000 euros each time he reoffends.
Inside or outside the Netherlands.
They also requested the destruction of all their samples stored in fertility clinics.
The only exception would be if a woman who has had children of his wants to give him a biological brother, Ties van der Meer, president of the foundation, explains by phone.
"We believe that the judge has understood that the interest of the minor must prevail, and the importance that all this has for his future," he adds.
In 2017, the Dutch Association of Gynecologists and Obstetricians warned that the defendant already had 102 children with the mediation of 11 clinics.
Jonathan M. has indicated in court that he is no longer active on his web pages for semen donations, but if there are parents who want a second or third child of his, he will go.
On the other hand, he rejects becoming "the face of massive donors" and fears being blackmailed.
Richard van der Zwan, his lawyer, recalled that his client "is the owner of his body, and people have the right to abortion, euthanasia and also to procreation."
When the judge asked him if it seems feasible for "500 or 600 siblings to establish a fraternal bond", the defendant replied: "That depends on the parents.
We are facing a new concept, and it is up to us, the adults, to shape it”.
In his opinion,
the real reason for the lawsuit lies in the foundation's desire to film a documentary about its case for the Netflix platform.
On this point, Ties van der Meer points out that "there are people who prepare a program and we know it".
“They have asked us for information as one of the voices, but we do not do it.”
Mark de Hek, Donorkind's lawyer, said in court that there are "seven pregnant women [of this donor] and several more with children of one or two years, who have now realized the breadth of the case."
Jonathan M. was required to appear before the judges, and the session had been delayed so that he could return from a vacation.
His face has now appeared on pictures made by a court cartoonist, but he posted a lot of pictures of himself on his Internet ads.
When he spoke to future mothers, he promised that he would not exceed 25 children, and that is why Eva, the plaintiff, chose him as the biological father of her child.
He now wants to protect the future of the child, with the repercussions for his mental health that all this may cause him.
Since 2004, anonymous semen donations have been prohibited in the Netherlands and there is a national registry.
It contains medical information about the donor that may be relevant to his offspring, physical characteristics, marital status and previous children, his character (creative, introverted...), along with his last name, date of birth and place of residence.
From the age of 16, children can consult this list, which is kept for 80 years.
The problem is that fertility clinics do not share this information among themselves, and hence the unbridled activity of Jonathan M. was only discovered in 2017. From that moment on, many of the women who had requested his services revealed their cases, but his semen had already been used inside and outside his country for years.
Dutch regulations allow the donation of semen, eggs and embryos, and "heterosexual, lesbian and single couples have access to these treatments," according to the registry.
The payment to the donor only covers a displacement allowance.
Until 2019, a limit of 25 children per donor has been maintained, as it is considered that there is no risk of involuntary incest between siblings that may meet in their adult life.
Since that year, the calculation is done in a different way, although the final result is similar: the same person can only donate to 12 women.
Taking into account that, in these cases, the receiving mothers usually have between one or two children, the calculation is close to 25 children or half.
Children conceived between 1990 and 2004 also have access to the national archive, although the information is incomplete.
In your case,
the best solution is to resort to a DNA test.
In June 2022, Donorkind received 1,415 donor information requests.