Dutch court orders sperm donor to request clinics destroy sperm

A prolific sperm donor who claims to have fathered more than 500 children has been banned from making further donations, and warned that he will face significant fines if he fails to comply, by the district court in The Hague, the Netherlands.

The Dutch court ordered the Dutch donor identified as Jonathan M to immediately halt all donations, even if he appeals against the ruling, and said he must pay €100,000 (£90,000) per infraction. The donor must also write to clinics abroad asking them to destroy any remaining sperm samples they have in stock, except for those reserved for parents who already had children by him. Furthermore, he is no longer allowed to advertise his services online to prospective parents for which penalties are set in place. Finally, the jury has ordered the donor to disclose all clinics to which he has ever donated sperm. If it transpires that this list is not complete, he will have to pay a fine of €25,000 euros (£22,000) per missing establishment.

'The donor deliberately misinformed prospective parents about the number of children he had already fathered in the past,' the district court in The Hague 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'.

M had originally been banned from donating sperm by the Dutch Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 2017, when it was discovered he had fathered more than 100 children (see BioNews 1185). However, the latest verdict was reached after Dutch charity Donorkind – which supports donor-conceived people, and represented 50 families in this civil case – sought the destruction of sperm samples and further donation by M, when it transpired he had fathered over 500 children via international sperm banks and informal arrangements made via online profiles.

During court hearings, the prolific donor said he is 'open to stay in contact with children and parents', and claimed that his approach is 'a new concept, and it is up to us – the adults – to shape it'. However, Donorkind argued the families felt like 'being part of a strange social experiment' which must come to an end.

The donor's lawyer, Richard Van der Zwan, said that imposing a ban on him would amount to 'an attempt at legal castration'. 'He has every right over his own body. Today humans have right to access abortion, euthanasia, but also reproduction.'

'At its core, this case is about conflicting fundamental rights,' said the court in a statement. 'On the one hand, the right with regard to the privacy of the parents and the donor children, protected by Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights, and on the other hand, the same right of the donor.'

When asked in court if he will stop donating, the prolific donor replied that he has already been banned from donating in the Netherlands and by the Danish sperm bank Cryos, claiming they were the only sperm banks to which he had donated. He also claimed that his online accounts had been deleted in 2019 and that he has no more active adverts, saying that ever since he 'only reacts to those parents who approach him themselves'.