A Dutch court on Friday banned any future sperm donation to the father of at least 550 children, who risks having to pay 100,000 euros each time he breaks the ban.
A mother and the Donorkind ("
Donor's Child
") foundation had initiated proceedings against the "
mass donor
" - Jonathan M., 41, according to Dutch media - finding that he was continuing to look for future parents on social networks.
Incest fears
The plaintiff had, says Donorkind, found the man in 2018 via a dating platform, on which he promised to father a maximum of 25 children, in accordance with the guidelines of Dutch clinics to avoid consanguinity, incest and psychological problems donor children.
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The donor had actually fathered 100 children in Dutch clinics alone at the time, plus an unknown number privately and via a Danish clinic that sent his semen to private addresses in various countries, AFP read. in the judgment.
A donor since 2007, he has fathered at least 550 to 600 children.
The court found it "
sufficiently plausible
" that this had or could have negative psychosocial consequences for the children, citing psychological issues around identity and fears of incest.
"
It is therefore in their interest that this network of kinship does not extend further
", underlines in a press release the district court of The Hague, which prohibits the man from "
donating his sperm to new future parents
".
Serial scandals
The latter, who had donated his sperm to at least 12 clinics, risks having to pay 100,000 euros if he violates this prohibition.
“
The donor deliberately misinformed the intended parents about the number of children he had fathered in the past
,” the court added.
They are now faced with the fact that their children "
are part of a vast network of relatives, with hundreds of half-siblings, whom they did not choose
", he continued.
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Jonathan M. is also prohibited from communicating, especially online with new future parents, about his wish or desire to donate sperm to them.
The case is the latest in a series of fertility-related scandals to hit the Netherlands.
In 2020, a gynecologist was charged after his death with fathering at least 17 children with women who believed they were receiving sperm from anonymous donors.
