On Friday, Dutch judges ordered a semen donor suspected of fathering over 550 children to stop donations. Read to know the scandal leading to a ‘huge kinship network’ and ‘hundreds of half siblings’.
Huge fertility scandal in the Netherlands linked to semen donor
A Dutch man identifies as “Jonathan M.” was dragged to court by a foundation focusing on the rights of donor children and the mother of a child allegedly fathered from his sperm. As per Dutch clinical guidelines, a sperm donor ‘should not father more than 25 children in 12 families’. However, according to the judges, the man fathered about 550 to 600 children since starting his donation journey in 2007. Therefore, the court “prohibits the defendant from donating his semen to new prospective parents after the issuing of this judgment,” stated Judge Thera Hesselink.
Additionally, Jonathan M may not contact prospective parents “with the wish that he was willing to donate semen. Advertise his services to prospective parents or join any organization that establishes contact between prospective parents,” stated the judge. However, should he continue donating, he will face a fine of $110,000 for each violation. “More than 100 children of Jonathan M.’s children were born in Dutch clinics and others privately, but he also donated semen to a Danish clinic named Cryos in court papers. Which then dispatched his seed to private addresses in various countries,” added Judge Hesselink.
More on the story
The case is the latest in the slew of fertility scandals in the Netherlands. In 2019, a Rotterdam doctor fathered over 49 children while inseminating women who were seeking treatment from him. Later in 2020 news of a deceased gynecologist father of 17 children came to light. The women were thinking they received sperm from anonymous donors.
The Dutch court is considering it plausible that this may have negative psychological issues for all the children. It can include psychological problems of identity in addition to fears of incest. Hence, in a separate statement, the Hague District Court stated “The donor deliberately misinformed prospective parents about the number of children he had already fathered in the past.” “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,” it added.
