A man from The Hague, Netherlands, who is said to have fathered around 550 children through sperm donation has been sued on grounds that he may be increasing the risk of accidental incest.
Jonathan Jacob Meijer, 41, is accused of misleading clinics and endangering children psychologically.
The Times newspaper reports that Meijer, a musician currently living in Kenya, donated his sperm to at least 13 clinics, 11 of which are in the Netherlands.
Meijer is being sued by a Dutch mother of one of his biological children and the DonorKind Foundation, which is representing 25 families.
Dutch law states that sperm donors should not donate to more than 12 women or should not father over 25 children.
This is to prevent cases of accidental breeding and psychological problems in children who may get disturbed after learning that they have hundreds of siblings.
Eva, the mother who has sued Meijer, said she would have never chosen him had she known that he “had already fathered more than 100 children.”
“If I think about the consequences this could have for my child I am sick to my stomach.”
The DonorKind Foundation is suing Meijer to stop him from donating sperm to such a number of women. It also wants to know about the clinics where he has donated so far and also demands that all his donated sperm in storage be destroyed if not reserved for a mother.
“We are taking action against this man because the government is doing nothing. He has a global reach via the internet and he does business with large, international sperm banks,” The Telegraph quoted the organization as saying.
Donorkid alleges that while Meijer has been blacklisted in the Netherlands, he has still gone ahead to donate sperm in other countries including Ukraine and Denmark.
