Dutch sperm ‘superdonor’ sues Netflix over its hit ‘Man With 1,000 Kids’ documentary and makes new claim about number of children he has fathered
A Dutch man who claims to have fathered 550 children through sperm donations says he is suing Netflix over the hit documentary “The Man With 1,000 Kids,” which he described as “sensationalist.”
Jonathan Meijer, 43, announced on a talk show on Tuesday evening that he is taking legal action against the documentary that smears him and the families he helped create.
He said the number of children he fathered, according to the documentary – up to 3,000 – was incorrect.
“Five hundred and fifty, that’s the number I know for sure. Anything above that is just speculation,” he said.
“That’s why I started a case to fight these lies,” he said, calling the show that aired without him participating “sensational.”
Jonathan Meijer, 43, (pictured) announced on a talk show Tuesday that he is taking legal action against Netflix
He claims to have fathered 550 children through sperm donations
He said he wanted the documentary removed for the sake of the children ‘who are recognized on the street’
Meijer made headlines last year when a court ordered him to stop donating, after having given birth to 550 to 600 children since he started donating in 2007.
According to Dutch clinical guidelines, a donor may not father more than 25 children in 12 families.
The court found that Meijer had misinformed families about previous donations, meaning the children were “part of a vast kinship network with hundreds of half-siblings not of their own choosing.”
The court considered it ‘sufficiently plausible’ that this could have psychosocial consequences for the children, including identity problems and fear of accidental incest.
Meijer said Tuesday that he had stopped donating sperm in 2019, except to families who wanted to have a second or third child with his help.
He said he wanted the documentary removed for the sake of children “who are recognized on the street.”