A Dutch Court has ordered a man identified as Jonathan M to stop semen donation after he was reported to have fathered around 500 to 600 children.
According to the Dutch clinical guidelines, it is recommended that a sperm donor should not sire more than 25 offspring within 12 families.
However, judicial authorities have reported that the Jonathan has contributed to the conception of approximately 550 to 600 children since commencing his sperm donation activities in 2007.
The Hague District Court said stated that Jonathan had deliberately misinformed prospective parents about the number of children he had already fathered in the past.
In her judgement, the presiding Judge, Thera Hesselink said, “the court therefore “prohibits the defendant from donating his semen to new prospective parents after the issuing of this judgement”.
Also, Jonathan may also not contact any prospective parents “with the wish that he was willing to donate semen… advertise his services to prospective parents or join any organisation that establishes contact between prospective parents”, Hesselink said in the written judgement.
The mother of a child involved in the legal proceedings, referred to as “Eva”, expressed gratitude towards the court for preventing the individual from engaging in widespread donations that could potentially spread to other nations.
“I’m asking the donor to respect our interests and to accept the verdict, because our children deserve to be left alone,” she said in a statement.
