News Mania Desk/Rakshanda Bhattacharjee/31st July 2024
Meijer, the world’s most prolific sperm donor, is a 43-year-old Dutch musician who comes from a large family and has seven siblings.Often sharing snippets of his life with his nearly 23,000 subscribers on his YouTube channel, he is interested in cryptocurrency and exploring health options such as the raw-meat diet, in addition to his love for music.While he hasn’t shared much about his childhood, a former friend of his, known only as Patricia, appeared in the Netflix docuseries and in it she described Meijer as someone with a “God-like complex” and claimed that as a young adult, he struggled to find his place in the world.His jobs have included working as a civics teacher, a mailman and a cryptocurrency consultant.While it’s unclear if he has a partner, he recently told a German newspaper: “I want to start a family, dream of having five children.
Meijer’s story started when he was a college student and was friends with an infertile man. “It had a big impact on me, because I saw the effect that it had on his life. So I started to be interested … and I started to think, could I be a donor?” he told BBC Radio 4′s Woman’s Hour in a recent interview. He also spoke about his reason for starting donation in a YouTube video uploaded in October last year in which he said he believed donating sperm was a “kind thing to do” as he has no family history of cancer, diabetes or genetic diseases.Meijer made his first sperm donation in 2007, to a sperm clinic in the Netherlands, a country of approximately 17 million people. At first, he appeared to be adhering to the law, which stated he could father a maximum of 25 children through 12 different mothers.However, by 2017, it was revealed he had not only donated to a total of 11 clinics around the country but that he had fathered 102 children, resulting in a court case and Meijer being banned from donating any more sperm through the country’s donation network. His motive for wanting to donate his sperm and father so many children around the world is different depending on who you ask.
Netflix docuseries director Josh Allott told Tudum: “Speaking to lots of different parents that have met him and people that know him well, it seems like it almost became an addiction for him.”Other online users claim he may have wanted to become the Guinness World Record holder for fathering the most children.
Meijer himself, recently told German media: “I want to do something meaningful with my life.” The Mirror reported he joined a Facebook group for women and couples who needed assistance in procreating. The Netflix documentary claimed in addition to this, he also donated to clinics outside of Netherlands, stating he would at times use an alias in order to be accepted by some clinics. It has also been widely reported that he would lie to couples he dealt with privately, telling them he had “only” 10 children. Meijer maintains he has donated his sperm mostly for free, telling German media: “I don’t ask for anything, but sometimes I receive £64 ($139), a plane ticket, or a camera as a gift.”
By 2023, Meijer had made upwards of 500 sperm donations, with children known to be living in the Netherlands, Germany, Belgium, Argentina and some even in Australia. And while he appeared to be doing so flying under the radar, it wasn’t for long.In chance meetings, families would notice their children shared the same blonde hair or blue eyes and soon a Facebook group called Donorkind 102 JJM was created. It’s unclear exactly how many people are in the group now as it has been made completely private, but The Mirror reported in June that, at the time, 157 people were in it.Following the realisation of just how many children Meijer had fathered, which is estimated to be at least 550, one woman and the Donorkind Foundation raised a civil lawsuit in April against Meijer, claiming he was increasing the risk of unintentional incest among his biological offspring.The civil lawsuit was raised in The Hague and claimed Meijer not only violated the Dutch law of procreating 25 children by donation but also increased the risk of unintentional incest between his children.
Meijer’s lawyers argued he was only “trying to help” families that couldn’t have children on their own and that if he were to be found guilty and prevented from donating sperm, it would effectively be “legal castration”.His team also noted Meijer currently only donated to families who have children with his DNA.Ultimately, the court ruled Meijer “deliberately misinformed” families receiving his donations and with the number of children he now has, it creates a “huge kinship network, with hundreds of half-siblings” that could result in negative psychosocial consequences for his children.The judge ruled Meijer is unable to donate any more sperm. If he does, he will be fined €100,000 ($183,294) per donation. He was also ordered to request the destruction of his semen that was stocked in clinics unless held in reserve for parents of children conceived by his sperm.
