Dutch sperm donor must appear before court for fathering hundreds of children
A hospital employee takes out donor sperm from storage. Photo AFP, Yuichi Yamazaki
Western Europe
A Dutch organisation for donor children and a mother have started a court case against a sperm donor who fathered hundreds of children worldwide.
The organisation, Stichting Donorkind (foundation for donor children) and mother Eva want the donor to stop fathering children. They want to achieve this goal via the legal system. According to them, the donor has fathered at least 550 children and is not planning to stop.
He dropped his sperm off at at least 13 clinics in the Netherlands and other countries, the organisation writes in a press release. In addition, the man allegedly approaches potential parents via forums and social media. In doing so, he does not tell them the truth about the number of children he has already fathered.
Inbreeding
According to regulations of Dutch clinics, donors may only donate sperm for 25 children in 12 families. The limit is necessary to prevent inbreeding, incest and psychological problems for the children, according to Stichting Donorkind.
However, the donor in question has told several mothers that he does not want to stop donating and recently approached even more parents. Now, the plaintiffs want the judge to punish him with monetary penalties if he does not stop. In addition, they want the judge to forbid the defendant to approach new intended parents. Also, he should tell the clinics to destroy his frozen sperm. Only mothers who have already received a child from him should be able to use his sperm from now on.
Advertisement
Mother Eva has children from the donor as well. She points out that she chose him because he had indicated in his advertisement on an online forum that he would father 25 children at most. “If I had known that he had already fathered more than a hundred children, I would never have selected him. If I think about the consequences of this for my child, I get sick and become insecure about his future. How many more children will this man father? Going to court is the only option to protect my child”, she explains in the press release.
Lawyer Mark de Hek, who represents the plaintiffs, says that the donor acts unlawfully. “His way of going about is dangerous for the mental wellness and the health of the donor children. He violates the agreements with the clinics and the intended parents because they trusted his promise that he would father up to 25 children at most.”
Related Articles
