A Dutch court ruled Friday that a man who has fathered between 550 and 600 children in the past 16 years is not allowed to donate sperm to his future parents.
According to the Hague district court, the man lied about how many children he has fathered, how many sperm donations he has made, and his intention to donate more sperm.
“All these parents face the fact that the children in their families are part of a huge kinship network with hundreds of half-siblings they didn’t choose,” the court said. rice field.
Due to Dutch privacy laws, the government has not publicly named Jonathan Jacob Meijer, 41, as the donor in question in court proceedings. In an email to The New York Times, a Department of Health spokesperson confirmed his identity. KleinJan writes. “The sperm donor you are writing about also reached this agreement. Nevertheless, he donated more sperm to the bank, resulting in him having 102 babies.”
The court’s ruling comes after Meyer was sued by the Dutch Donor Children’s Foundation, which represents the interests of the children of sperm donors, and the mother of one of his children. She “children deserve rest,” her mother, who identified herself as Eva but omitted her last name, said in a statement Friday.
Citing the negative psychological effects on the children, the court said it was in the children’s best interest to ban Meyer from continuing to donate. The court said it would be difficult to build a marriage and increase the likelihood of incest.
In the Netherlands, Meyer donated sperm to at least 11 fertility clinics, according to court documents. In each of these clinics, from his sperm he can give birth to 25 children or serve up to 12 mothers, according to Dutch regulations. According to court records, Meyer lied to each clinic and told them that he had never donated elsewhere and had no intention of doing so in the future.
According to a 2017 report, Meyer had 102 children through a Dutch clinic between 2007 and 2017. Between 2015 and his 2018, he donated sperm to a fertility clinic in Denmark. The number of children born from donated sperm who have sent their semen to people in other countries.
In addition to donating to the clinic, Meijer donated sperm on various social media platforms in the Netherlands and abroad. Meyer has been in contact with several parents, according to the court.
Dutch Donor Child Foundation — Posted an image of two champagne glasses that clink Twitter celebrated the verdict with the words “Major step forward!” — Upheld the judgment. Board member Esther De Lau said: “I’m glad the judge decided that having countless half-siblings was not a good idea.
Dutch parliamentarians are in the process of introducing new rules for sperm donors to protect the interests of children. The Dutch House of Commons debated the issue earlier this month.
“In the Netherlands we believe it is important that everyone knows the facts about their ancestry,” said Minister of Health, Welfare and Sport Ernst Kuipers. Since 2004, it has been possible for donor children to request such information. However, the government wants to establish a central registry that indicates whether sperm donors have donated to multiple clinics.
According to the proposed bill, “the new rule would discourage the undesirable situation of sperm donors having hundreds of children.”
Ms De Lau said she supported the bill, but said more needs to be done to ensure that the children of donors could also look into their personal and overseas donation possibilities. can start in the Netherlands, but it has to be international,” she said. “This is not limited to Holland.”
Regulations regarding sperm donation vary across Europe. in Belgium, The Minister of Health and Welfare announced a similar registry After it was revealed that Mr. Meyer was also active there.
Meyer’s attorney, Richard van der Zwan, told the court that his client wanted to help his parents, who were having trouble conceiving, according to the Associated Press. Van der Zwan was not reached for comment on Friday.
Meijer said he was not acting selfishly and that continued sperm donation would not adversely affect his subsequent children, the court said. But the court ruled that Meyer’s continued donation outweighed the interests of her children and other parents.
