Court Orders Sperm Donor to Stop Fathering Children

A Dutch court has ruled that a 41-year-old man, who has fathered over 500 children through sperm donation, must stop donating to sperm banks or face a fine of 100,000 Euros. The man’s prolific donation history has caused concern among families who have used his sperm, as the potential for genetically-related descendants to accidentally meet and mate is high. In response, a foundation representing the families brought a civil case against the man to stop him from sharing his sperm, resulting in this recent court ruling. The judge also ordered the man to contact all clinics he has donated to and ask them to destroy any remaining semen supplies, with the exception of those held for parents who have previously had children via his sperm. The man had previously been banned from offering his sperm to Dutch fertility clinics in 2017 after he had already fathered over 100 children, but continued to list himself as a donor on international databases, including Cryos, the largest sperm bank in the world. The court found that the man had “deliberately misinformed” prospective parents about how many children he had fathered, and that he must now cease all donation activities and advertising his services to prospective parents.