A 41-year-old man allegedly fathered more than 500 children in the Netherlands, according to the Donorkind Foundation, an organization that helps children born via sperm donations discover their origins.
Donorkind, based in Den Haag, Netherlands, confirmed in a statement that a generous “serial donor” gave his sperm nationally and internationally.
A lawsuit brought by the mother of one of his children is now asking a Dutch court to prevent the man from donating in the future.
According to Dutch medical guidelines, a donor can only father 25 children to avoid possible incest and psychological problems. But it’s not considered a criminal offense to go over that limit.
The donor, who Dutch media identified as “Jonathan M.,” was excluded from donating via the Dutch Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 2017. At that time, he already fathered 102 babies from 11 different clinics, officials said.
But it did not stop “Jonathan,” who is said to be a musician, from carrying on his genetic contributions both online and internationally.
“Jonathan M.” did not divulge the real number of children he had to the fertility clinics or to the mothers, Ties van der Meer, chairman of Donorkind, said. Van der Meer said he’s regularly in touch with some of the mothers of “Jonathan’s” 500 kids.
Donorkind Foundation says it’s now fighting against keeping donors anonymous, as “it makes [it] very complicated to control the number of children for each of them.”
Donorkind Foundation is also asking the Netherlands to destroy any of the samples “Jonathan M.” has stored, except those to be used by women who already had a baby via his donation and would like to give their child a sibling.
In the Netherlands, private or public clinics pay between $10 and $20 per sperm donation.