An obsessive Dutch sperm donor is to be taken to court in the coming weeks, in a civil case centred on getting him to stop.

The 41-year-old from The Hague is accused of misleading hundreds of women all over the world, and may have helped create over 550 children, the Donorkind foundation, which is behind the court case, said.

The Dutch gynaecologists’ association NVOG first warned about the man, a musician, in 2017, when it emerged he had fathered at least 102 children in the Netherlands via 10 different clinics.

His name has not been made public by the Dutch press, who refer to him as Jonathan M, but his full name is Jonathan Jacob Meijer, according to a 2021 report on the case by the New York Times.

Whe his excessive donating became public, Meijer was placed on a blacklist, but continued to donate abroad, in Denmark and in Ukraine, and offered his services as a donor via websites, sometimes using the name Ruud. CoParent Match, Spendesperma, Kinderwunsch, Onewish, Cyros and PrideAngel are some of the organisations he used, according to the AD.

Eva, the Dutch woman at the centre of the court case, had a child by Meijer in 2018. ‘If I had known he had already fathered more than 100 children I would never have chosen him,’ she said in a statement.

‘If I think about the consequences this could have for my child I am sick to my stomach,’ she said. ‘Many mothers have told him he needs to stop but nothing helps. So going to court is the only option I have to protect my child.’

Eva and the Donorkind foundation now want to stop Meijer donating and to find out exactly which clinics he has donated sperm to. They also want all his sperm still in storage to be destroyed, unless it has been reserved for a woman who already has one of his children.

‘We are taking action against this man because national government is doing nothing,’ foundation chairman Ties van der Meer said. ‘He has a global reach via internet and he does business with large, international sperm banks.’

Donor children find it hard to cope if they know their biological father has created dozens of children and that they have so many half brothers and sisters, he said. They are also worried about the possibility of incest and inbreeding.

Agreements

The foundation’s lawyer Mark de Hek said Meijer’s actions are dangerous for the mental and physical health of donor children. In addition, he has broken agreements with both clinics and parents, after pledging to stick to the 25 baby limit, De Hek said.

Meijer, who currently lives in Kenya, declined to comment on the court case when questioned by the AD and broadcaster NOS.

As yet it is not clear when the injunction will be heard in court but more details are expected in the coming week.

Doctors

Meanwhile, the Netherlands is working on a central register of sperm donors and has changed the rules so that a donor can provide sperm to a maximum of 12 women, replacing the current maximum of 25 children, the AD said.

Last year the Donorkind foundation said it had identified at least 10 doctors who had illegally used their own sperm to create children in the Netherlands.

Among the high profile cases involving fertility specialists are that of Jan Karbaat, who fathered 81 children at the last count, Jan Wildschut  who fathered at least 47 and Jos Beek.