Prolific Dutch sperm donor responds to Netflix series' claims

A Dutch sperm donor is threatening to sue Netflix over allegations made about him in a recent documentary series.

Jonathan Meijer is the subject of the recent Netflix documentary 'The Man with 1000 Kids', which includes interviews with families who have children conceived using his sperm. Some accused him of lying about the number of families he had already helped create.

'Technically I did not lie. I followed the guidelines of every large commercial international sperm bank that does not inform the recipients about the amount of offspring one donor will produce,' Meijer told NBC News. 'I gave the parents an estimated number, this was better and more info than they would ever get at any clinic.'

The number of donations made by Meijer had already been the subject of potential legal action, after a district court in The Hague banned him from making further donations earlier this year (see BioNews 1188) in response to a lawsuit brought by an organisation representing donor-conceived people in the Netherlands (see BioNews 1185). As many as 11 sperm banks holding his samples have also been asked to destroy them.

Dutch guidelines limit sperm donors to a maximum of 25 genetic offspring, and allow donation at only one sperm bank. Warnings about the number of donations made by Meijer go back to 2017 when he had already contributed to the creation of over 100 children (see BioNews 915). Meijer told the Independent that he stopped donating to new families in 2019, and estimates that he has around 550 donor children, not 1000 as the Netflix title suggests.

The documentary also contains allegations that Meijer mixed his sperm with that of another prolific donor before giving it to a recipient, in a competition to see whose sperm would 'win'. Meijer denied this ever happened and said in a YouTube video he will sue Netflix for defamation if the claim is not removed.