A person who has fathered between 550 and 600 kids during the last 16 years isn’t allowed to donate any longer sperm to potential folks, a courtroom within the Netherlands dominated on Friday.

In line with The Hague District Courtroom, the person lied in regards to the choice of kids he had already fathered, the choice of sperm donations he had made and his goal to donate much more sperm.

“A lot of these folks are actually faced with the truth that the youngsters of their circle of relatives are a part of an enormous kinship community, with masses of half of siblings, which they didn’t make a choice,” the courtroom mentioned.

As a result of Dutch privateness regulations, the federal government has no longer publicly named the person, Jonathan Jacob Meijer, 41, within the courtroom complaints because the donor in query. On the other hand, in an e-mail to The New York Occasions for a 2021 article about him, a spokesman for the well being ministry showed his id. “Donors will have to signal an settlement with their health facility that they don’t donate sperm at different clinics,” Gerrit-Jan KleinJan wrote. “The sperm donor you’re writing about made this settlement as neatly. However, he donated at extra sperm banks leading to 102 young children.”

The courtroom’s ruling got here after Mr. Meijer used to be sued through the Dutch Donor Kid Basis, which represents the pursuits of sperm donors’ kids, and a mom who had certainly one of his kids. “The youngsters deserve a relaxation,” the mummy, who went through Eva however overlooked her ultimate identify, mentioned in a observation on Friday.

Bringing up destructive mental penalties for the youngsters, the courtroom mentioned that barring Mr. Meijer from proceeding to donate used to be within the kids’s highest pastime. It could be arduous for them to domesticate relationships with such a lot of organic half of siblings, and it provides to the next probability of incest, the courtroom mentioned.

Within the Netherlands, Mr. Meijer donated sperm to a minimum of 11 fertility clinics, in line with courtroom paperwork. Every of the ones clinics permits his sperm to provide 25 kids or be donated to a most of 12 moms, as is the rule of thumb within the Netherlands. Mr. Meijer additionally lied to the clinics, in line with courtroom information, telling each and every health facility that he hadn’t donated in other places and wasn’t planning to do so sooner or later.

A document from 2017 concluded that Mr. Meijer had fathered 102 kids via Dutch clinics between 2007 and 2017. Between 2015 and 2018, he additionally donated sperm to a fertility health facility in Denmark that, on the time, didn’t position a restrict at the choice of kids made from donated sperm and that despatched semen to other folks in different nations.

Along with his health facility donations, Mr. Meijer additionally presented his sperm on quite a lot of social media platforms within the Netherlands and out of the country. In line with the courtroom, Mr. Meijer helps to keep involved with a couple of folks.

The Dutch Donor Kid Basis — which posted a picture of 2 clinking champagne glasses on Twitter in party of the decision with the phrases “vital step ahead!” — supported the ruling. “We’re satisfied that the pass judgement on dominated that it’s no longer a good suggestion to have numerous half-siblings,” Ester de Lau, a board member, mentioned.

Dutch lawmakers are within the strategy of imposing new laws for sperm donors to give protection to the pursuits of the youngsters. The Dutch Space of Representatives debated the problem this month.

“Within the Netherlands, we predict it’s vital that everybody has details about their lineage,” in line with Ernst Kuipers, the minister of well being, welfare and game. It’s been imaginable for donor kids to request such knowledge since 2004. However the executive needs to determine a central registry that may display whether or not a sperm donor has donated to a couple of clinics.

“The brand new laws would discourage unwanted scenarios through which sperm donors every now and then father masses of youngsters,” in line with the proposed invoice.

Ms. de Lau mentioned she supported the invoice, however that it had to cross additional to make sure that donor kids may additionally glance up any imaginable personal donations and donations out of the country. “The registry can get started within the Netherlands, however must be world,” she mentioned. “This isn’t one thing this is restricted to the Netherlands.”

Regulations surrounding sperm donation range throughout Europe. In Belgium, the well being minister introduced a equivalent registry after it changed into transparent that Mr. Meijer had additionally been lively there.

Richard van der Zwan, Mr. Meijer’s attorney, informed the courtroom that his shopper sought after to assist folks who had bother conceiving, The Related Press reported. Mr. van der Zwan couldn’t in an instant be reached for touch upon Friday.

Mr. Meijer mentioned he used to be no longer performing selfishly and that his endured sperm donations would no longer negatively have an effect on any next kids, the courtroom mentioned. However the courtroom dominated that the pursuits of the youngsters and different folks outweighed the ones of Mr. Meijer’s to proceed to supply himself as a donor.