A father of at least 550 children has been banned from donating any more of his sperm after he “deliberately lied” to prospective parents.
National guidelines in the Netherlands say sperm donors are allowed to father a maximum of 25 children with 12 mothers.
The Hague District Court said in a written judgement that the prolific donor, identified only as Jonathan M under Dutch privacy rules, provided sperm to several Dutch fertility clinics, a facility in Denmark and people he met through advertisements and online forums.
His lawyer said his client wanted to help people who would otherwise be unable to conceive.
But the judge who heard the civil case said the donor “deliberately lied about this in order to persuade the parents to take him as a donor,” according to a statement from the court.