Jonathan Jacob Meijer
Jonathan Jacob Meijer (born 1981 or 1982) is a Dutch YouTuber who became known when he was revealed to have excessively donated sperm in multiple countries over many years, which he achieved by misleading donation recipients and clinics about the number of children he had already fathered.[1] As of July 2024, he is estimated to have more than 1,000 children worldwide.[2]
Overview[edit]
Meijer started giving sperm donations in 2007.[3] In 2017, he was banned from donating sperm to Dutch clinics after the Dutch Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology revealed that he had fathered over 100 children in 11 different clinics.[1][2][4] The Dutch Donor Child Foundation determined that, in addition to the 102 fathered via clinics, he had fathered at least 80 additional children in the Netherlands via private arrangements.[5] After his Dutch ban, he continued donating to international clinics such as Cryos International, as well as private websites.[2]
In early 2023, a civil lawsuit was lodged against Meijer by the Donorkind Foundation, requesting court action due to fears of unintentional incest amongst his children and his violation of the Dutch limit of 25 donor children.[1] Meijer's defence stated that he merely wanted to help parents who were unable to conceive,[6] and that a decision against him would amount to "legal castration".[7] He told the court at the time that he only donated to parents who already had a child through his donations.[8] In April 2023, a Dutch court ordered Meijer to stop donating sperm and subjected him to a €100,000 fine for each future infraction. In addition, he was instructed by the court to request the destruction of his semen that was still being stored by clinics, unless held in reserve for parents of children conceived by his sperm.[2] The court determined that Meijer "deliberately misinformed" donation recipients about the number of children he had fathered, creating a "huge kinship network with hundreds of half-siblings" and that it is "sufficiently plausible" that the children could suffer negative psychosocial consequences as a result.[3]
On 2 July 2023, in an exclusive interview with the Brazilian weekly television news program Fantástico, Meijer admitted to tricking women who wanted to get pregnant and acknowledged that he lied to the families.[9][10]
In July 2024, Netflix released the three-episode documentary series The Man with 1,000 Kids about Meijer.[11] His YouTube channel, which he started in 2010 and on which he posts his music and vlogs, went largely ignored until his subscriber count started growing in the wake of the Netflix documentary; as of 8 July 2024, it has over 11,000 subscribers.[12]
References[edit]
- ^ a b c Hume, Tim (29 March 2023). "Serial Sperm Donor Taken to Court Over Incest Fears After Fathering more than 1000 Children worldwide". Vice. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ^ a b c d van Den Berg, Stephanie (28 April 2023). "Dutch court bans father of hundreds from donating sperm". Canberra Times. Reuters. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ^ a b McGarvey, Emily (29 April 2023). "Sperm donor who fathered 550 children ordered to stop". BBC. Archived from the original on 4 May 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
- ^ "Dutch sperm donor fathers at least 102 children: RTL". Dutch News. 19 August 2017. Archived from the original on 3 May 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ^ Mroz, Jacqueline (1 February 2021). "The case of the serial sperm donor". The New York Times. Archived from the original on 30 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.
- ^ "Dutch court orders sperm donor to stop after 550 children". Deutsche Welle. 28 April 2023. Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
- ^ Stroobants, Jean-Pierre (29 April 2023). "Dutch court orders 'Superdonor' to stop donating sperm". Le Monde. Archived from the original on 2 May 2023. Retrieved 2 May 2023.
- ^ Ferrer, Isabel (14 April 2023). "Dutch serial sperm donor: 'I am not a mad bull with an urge to procreate'". El Pais. Archived from the original on 2023-04-28. Retrieved 2023-05-02.
- ^ "Alimentação exótica e gosto por mostrar os hábitos na web: o holandês doador de esperma que admitiu ter enganado mulheres". G1. 3 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
- ^ "Holandês doador de esperma que diz ter mais de 500 filhos admite ter enganado mulheres que queriam engravidar". G1. 2 July 2023. Retrieved 3 July 2023.
- ^ Sager, Jessica (July 3, 2024). "Who Is 'The Man With 1,000 Kids'? All About Serial Sperm Donor Jonathan Meijer at Center of New Netflix Series". People. Retrieved July 3, 2024.
- ^ Wen, Lok Jian (29 March 2023). "Dutch serial sperm donor who may have fathered 550 children sued over increasing risk of inbreeding". The Straits Times. Archived from the original on 18 April 2023. Retrieved 30 April 2023.