An Australian mother who unwittingly used the rogue “serial sperm donor” at the centre of a new Netflix documentary has broken her silence on how he devastated her life.
Sydney mum Laura has revealed how she and her partner Kate were devastated after learning the true identity of their sperm donor, Jonathan Meijer.
The Dutchman is accused of fathering more than 500 children around the world and defrauding vulnerable families, starting in the Netherlands and then spreading across the globe.
The shocking story has now been revealed in The Man with 1000 Kids, the Netflix documentary that explores the story behind Meijer and how he managed to get away with it.
Now Sydney couple Laura and Kate have revealed how they paid for their donation in Australia which led to their first child following a successful insemination.
It should have been the happiest moment of their lives, but when the couple began asking if their son had siblings in other parts of the world, they made a horrifying discovery on a Facebook group.
They realized they were among thousands of suspicious parents who had been scammed by Meijer, which had left a trail of babies all over the planet.
“Being told our son is one of thousands was a huge loss for both my partner and I,” Laura told Nine’s Today Extra show on Friday.
‘But over time the shock really turned into a motivation for us to create change in the industry.
‘By doing so we regain control and power over our family, and not only that, we are helping the donor-conceived community to carry out massive legal reform.’
In April 2023, several parents filed a civil lawsuit against Meijer at the International Court of Justice in the Netherlands seeking to prohibit Meijer from continuing to donate sperm.
The judge agreed, citing the mental well-being of the families and the “psychosocial well-being” of the children who will learn they have “hundreds of half-siblings.”
‘Serial’ sperm donor Jonathan Meijer, who is currently the subject of a popular Netflix documentary, The Man with 1000 Sons, is pictured
Sydney couple Laura (left) and Kate (right) were devastated to discover Meijer had fathered more than five hundred children.
Many of the parents highlighted the risk of incest and psychological distress faced by children who discover the conditions surrounding their birth.
The court ruled that he can no longer donate sperm and that previous samples in clinics must be destroyed.
The court also imposed a fine of 100,000 euros (about 160,000 Australian dollars) per case if it violates the ban.
“It’s given us a lot of power and a lot of contribution to the donor-intended community that we didn’t really realize would happen,” Laura explained.
In the Netherlands, a sperm donor can legally only donate to 12 different mothers for a total of 25 children.
It is conservatively estimated that Meijer fathered at least 500 children.
In 2017, Meijer had already violated the 25-child limit set by Dutch law.
He is believed to have fathered around 100 babies by that time, prompting the National Society of Obstetrics and Gynecology to ban donations.
But those babies were just the ones that had been registered in the system; Meijer had many more lined up in private arrangements.
He continued to donate by offering his services online and at clinics around the world, something Meijer insists he did without breaking any rules.
The International Court of Justice in The Hague has concluded that he may have fathered as many as 1,000 children on several continents.
The ‘serial’ sperm donor at the centre of a new Netflix documentary claims the film got the number of children wrong
Unlike donations made in facilities, donations made through private arrangements over the Internet are not regulated at all.
The 41-year-old YouTuber and cryptocurrency trader began donating his sperm in 2007 in the Netherlands and continued for at least a decade until he was confronted by the mothers.
Despite the families’ efforts to get Meijer to tell the truth, he continued to refuse to admit the total number of children he had fathered.
He described the documentary as “sensationalist and misleading” and said the number “1,000” was not what he believed to be true.
“I want to speak freely, I want to have a say in my own story,” she said in a YouTube video explaining why she did not participate in the Netflix documentary.
‘I’ve seen the trailer, someone sent it to me because I don’t watch Netflix. I don’t have Netflix, I think it’s bad.
‘I help people, that’s all. But what saddens me the most is that they decided to change the lives of all my donor children (…) It’s not right to sensationalize.
‘They should have asked all the parents and children (before making the documentary).’
According to Meijer’s YouTube channel, it is still traveling the world.
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