HQ Team
April 29, 2023: The Hague District Court has stopped a man from donating sperm after he was alleged to have fathered between 550 and 600 children in the Netherlands and outside the country.
A foundation to protect the rights of donor children, consisting of a group of donor children and their parents, and a mother of one of the children suspected to be fathered by the 41-year-old man took him to court.
They argued that if the man continued to donate to new prospective parents, it created the danger that the health and emotional interests of his donor children and their parents would be harmed.
It also violated their rights, including respecting their privacy, guaranteed in Article 8 of the European Convention of Human Rights, and is unlawful.
The judges prohibited the man from donating his semen to new prospective parents and imposed a penalty of 100,000 euros every time he violated the prohibition. Under Dutch law, it is prohibited to name the defendant publicly.
Communication ban
He was also barred from communicating to new prospective parents that he wishes or is willing to donate semen to them. The judges prevented him from posting online and offline advertisements about donating semen.
The man was told to provide information on whether he has donated to other clinics and institutions as a sperm bank donation than the 11 clinics in the Netherlands.
These clinics used a maximum of 25 children or 12 families per donor, based on the guidelines in force at the time.
It ordered the defendant, who was a sperm donor since 2007, to pay the cost of court fees.
While registering with the clinics, the man stated in writing that he is not a sperm donor in another centre and will not become one in the future and that “he will not present himself as a sperm donor via the internet or other channels.”
Dutch clinics
In 2017 it was established that between 2007 and 2017, the defendant fathered 102 children through these Dutch clinics.
The Dutch Association of Obstetrics and Gynecology then requested the Dutch fertility clinics to stop the treatments with the semen of the defendant immediately.
Between 2015 and 2018, the defendant donated to the Danish sperm bank Cryos, which sends semen to private addresses in various countries.
At the time of these donations, that institute did not apply a maximum number of children per sperm donor. The defendant has also made many private donations since the autumn of 2007, with home insemination taking place.
He has offered this through various social media channels and platforms at home and abroad.
