Man banned from donating sperm after fathering 600 children
The Hague District Court in the Netherlands has ordered a man who fathered about 600 children to stop donating his sperm to prospective parents.
Forty-one-year-old Jonathan Jacob Meijer has fathered the children, between 550 and 600 in 16 years.
The court ruled that banning Mr Meijer was for the good of the children’s welfare.
The court’s ruling on Friday indicated concerns over possible incest and the relationship dilemma of having hundreds of half-siblings.
The court explained that “all these parents” face the challenge of their children being a part of “a huge kinship network” of hundreds of siblings.
The New York Times reported that Mr Meijer lied to clinics and donated sperm to at least 11 fertility clinics in the Netherlands, with each of the facilities using his sperm to produce 25 children.
Mr Meijer also donated his sperm to clinics in Denmark and other foreign countries.
It was revealed that the 41-year-old fathered 102 children between 2007 and 2017.
He was sued by the Dutch Donor Child Foundation, representing the interests of sperm donors’ children and a woman who had one of Mr Meijer’s children.
However, Mr Meijer’s lawyer, Richard van der Zwan, told the court that the 41-year-old was only trying to assist parents having trouble bearing children, describing his action as a selfless pursuit.
The court pointed out that the children and other parents’ interests outweighed Mr Meijer’s.
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