Jonathan M has far exceeded Dutch restrictions that limit donors to 25 children with 12 moms.
A father of at least 550 children who “deliberately lied” to prospective parents cannot donate sperm.
By Dutch national guidelines, sperm donors may sire a maximum of 25 children with 12 mothers.
The prolific donor, identified only as Jonathan M due to Dutch privacy laws, provided sperm to several Dutch fertility clinics, a facility in Denmark, and individuals he met through advertisements and online forums, according to a written ruling from the Hague District Court.
His attorney stated that his client desired to assist infertile individuals conceive.
The judge who heard the civil case, however, concluded that the donor “deliberately lied about this to convince the parents to accept him as a donor,” according to a court statement.
The court added that the children’s parents are “now confronted with the reality that their children are part of a vast kinship network. with a large number of half-siblings that they did not choose.”
This “has or could have negative psychosocial consequences for children,” the report states.
It continued, “It is therefore in their best interest that this kinship network not be expanded.”
The case involved “conflicting fundamental rights,” according to the court’s statement.
“On the one hand, the right to respect for the privacy of the parents and the donor children,” it continued.
