A Dutch court orders a sperm donor, Jonathan M. who is suspected of being the biological father of over 550 children to cease all further donations. This recent fertility scandal has caused shockwaves throughout the Netherlands, prompting a foundation dedicated to protecting the rights of donor children and the mother of one of the alleged offspring to take legal action against him.
Although Dutch clinical guidelines state that a donor should not father more than 25 children within 12 families, the judges found that Jonathan had contributed to the creation of approximately 550 to 600 children since he began donating sperm in 2007. Judge Thera Hesselink said on Friday, therefore, “prohibits the defendant from donating his semen to new prospective parents after the issuing of this judgement.” “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.” “Should he continue with his donations, he would face a 100,000-euro ($110,000) fine for every transgression, as well as additional fines,” the court ruled. Eva, the mother of one of the children involved in the court case, expressed gratitude towards the court for halting the man’s mass sperm donation. “Mass donations have spread like wildfire to other countries. 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.
