The father of hundreds of children in the Netherlands is banned from donating sperm


A Dutch court on Friday banned the father of at least 550 children from donating his sperm to future parents, in a new scandal linked to fertility issues that shocks the Netherlands. The “mass donor”, Jonathan M., 41, according to Dutch media, risks having to pay 100,000 euros each time he breaks the ban. A mother and the Donorkind Foundation (“Donor’s Child”) had initiated proceedings against the man last month, noting that he continued to look for future parents on social networks.

“I ask the donor to respect our interests”

The court found it “sufficiently plausible” that expanding the huge kinship network would have negative psychosocial consequences for the children, citing psychological issues around identity and fears of incest. Identified only as ‘Eva’, the plaintiff mother said she was grateful to the court for stopping the man from ‘mass donations, which have spread like wildfire to other countries’. “I ask the donor to respect our interests and accept the verdict,” she said, quoted in a statement.

Donorkind explained that Eva had found the man in 2018 via a dating platform, on which he promised to father a maximum of 25 children, in accordance with guidelines from Dutch clinics to avoid inbreeding, incest and psychological problems. donor children. 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.

Destroy his seed

“If you let such a huge kinship network grow with 550 to 600 people who have half-brothers and half-sisters all over the place, then you are acting wrongly,” said court spokesman Gert-Mark Smelt. The judge in chambers therefore prohibited the man from “donating his sperm to new future parents”, considering that it was in the interest of the children of the parent that the network does not extend further.

The donor must also send a message to all the sperm banks where his semen was stored to request that it be destroyed. “The donor deliberately misinformed the future parents about the number of children he had fathered in the past,” the court ruled.

Prohibition of communicating with future parents

Jonathan M. is also prohibited from communicating, especially online, with new future parents about his wish or desire to donate sperm to them. “This is the first time a judge has ruled on such a case and it is heartening to see this behavior immediately addressed,” said Mark de Hek, one of the attorneys in the case. The Netherlands has already been affected by other scandals related to fertility issues. 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.



Source link -75