(Reuters) – A Dutch court on Friday ordered a man who judges say has fathered between 500 and 600 children worldwide to stop donating sperm.
The court banned the 41-year-old Dutchman from donating more semen to clinics. They can fine him 100,000 euros ($110,000) for each violation.
The court also ordered the man to write to foreign clinics asking them to destroy all the semen in his stock, except for doses intended for fathers who already have children.
The decision followed a civil suit brought by a foundation representing the interests of Dutch donor children and parents who turned to the man as a donor.
They alleged that the man’s continued donations violated the privacy rights of his donor children, whose ability to form romantic relationships is hampered by fears of accidental incest and inbreeding.
The man’s many donations first came to light in 2017 and he was banned from donating at fertility clinics in the Netherlands, where he has already fathered more than 100 children.
However, he continued to donate abroad, including to the Danish sperm bank Cryos, which operates internationally.
The man also continued to present himself as a donor on websites that match expectant fathers with sperm donors, sometimes using a different name, according to Algemeen Dagblad.
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