A British man claims to be the father of 800 children after he began donating his sperm more than 16 years ago.
Simon Watson, 41, initially donated through sperm banks, but later he began collecting and selling his sperm himself through Facebook and other online sites, according to The Daily Mail.
Watson does not deny the oddity of his actions. He jokingly calls his sperm his “magic potion” and “ammo,” and he said he wants to break the world record and father 1,000 children within the next four years. He has two teenage sons who he calls his own, and their classmates “think it’s funny,” he said.
“My boys wouldn’t do it themselves, but they’ve said they don’t mind me doing it,” Watson said.
But some people are very concerned about the serious ethical and legal implications of prolific sperm donors like Watson.
Laura Witjens, chief executive of the National Gamete Donation Trust, told the BBC that many sperm donors say they have good intentions of helping women or couples have children.
“But if you strip it down to bare facts, you have a man who for whatever reason feels they need to impregnate over 500 women, you have women who are comfortable knowing their children have 500 half siblings, in another setting people would be appalled. They would ask questions, find it very disturbing,” Witjens said.
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Donors without a licensed agreement also run the risk of being asked for child support payments at any time, according to the report.
Watson, however, said he has no plans to stop advertising his sperm. He said many families have expressed gratitude to him for his donations.
According to the report:
‘I generally advertise on Facebook – it’s the way forward. You can see what people are like on their profile, it’s quite a safe way to do things.
‘I can be a bit fussy about who I donate to, but generally anything goes – I don’t mind if people drink or smoke, but if someone was a drug addict I probably wouldn’t do it.
‘I have turned down a couple of people who were obvious nutters – you just make your excuses and get out while you can.
‘I’ve had way more than 800 children over the years – they’re just the ones I know of.
‘I never imagined I’d donate to this degree – with the ease of Facebook though it’s great, and it’s really snowballed.
‘I don’t usually stay in touch with people – if they’re happy I’m happy, and once I’ve done my part that’s it, most of them like to disappear.
‘If anyone does want to know me better though I’m up for it, but it’s always their decision.
‘I usually have a kid pop out somewhere every couple of weeks at least, usually more often. I’ve also had a few sets of twins.
‘Some women say it should be free, but I don’t think £50 for a pot of the magic potion is a bad price – you need to cover the costs.’
Mr Watson, who used to run his parents aromatherapy business before becoming a full-time sperm donor, takes good care of himself to ensure his produce is in tip-top condition, and gets tested regularly to prove he has a clean bill of health.
By offering fresh instead of frozen sperm, his donations fall outside the regulations laid down by the Human Fertilisation And Embryology Authority, which governs licensed sperm banks.
Lately, the British media has been drawing more attention to concerns about prolific sperm donors. Another British sperm donor, Declan Rooney, who said he fathered 54 children in just two years, left many questioning the ethical and legal implications of what he does.
LifeNews reported that some are calling on authorities to investigate the 43-year-old Rooney, who also advertises on Facebook. Rooney said he does not make money off his sperm donations; he only charges for expenses. He also denies that the word “naturally” in his advertisement means that he has sex with his clients.
As LifeNews previously reported, artificial insemination is largely controversial in the pro-life community because it opens up Pandora’s box to genetic engineering, pre-implantation diagnosis and embryonic stem cell harvest.
