In a bizarre incident, a sperm donor has reportedly fathered more than 550 children in the Netherlands. The matter came to the fore after a court banned him from donating any more of his sperm.
The man has been identified as Jonathan Jacob Meijer (41). He could be fined more than 100,000 Euros (Rs 90, 41,657) if he tries to donate again, BBC reported.
According to a report in BBC, Dutch clinical guidelines state that a sperm donor can only donate not more than 12 women or should not father over 25 children. But, Jacob reportedly donated his sperm to at least 13 clinics and has fathered between 550-600 children since he started donating in 2007.
Now, the parents of the children are in shock as they are all part of a huge kinship network, with hundreds of half-siblings. The court has also directed Jacob to not contact any prospective parents, advertise his service or join any organization that establishes contact between donors and prospective parents.
“I’m asking the donor to respect our interests and to accept the verdict because our children deserve to be left alone,” a mother of one of the children said in an official statement.
According to sources, Jacob is a musician by profession and currently lives in Kenya.