What drives mass sperm donors? “Men often donate sperm because they want to pass on their genes”

Why would a sperm donor want to father hundreds of children? Researchers have few large-scale studies to answer the question, so they must rely largely on what donors say in interviews.

Astrid Indekeu, a KU Leuven researcher, clinical psychologist and founder of the DONAE expertise center, said some mass donors describe a wish to pass on their own genes. In an earlier case, a donor from South Limburg said donating made him feel good and improved his self-image. It has not been established whether the same explanation applies to men who father hundreds of children.

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We must fall back on what donors themselves say in interviews.

The question has gained new attention after reports that a 43-year-old Dutch donor named Simon may have fathered at least 121 children, including 11 in Belgium. Another Dutch donor, Jonathan Meijer, says he fathered 199 children. Some people involved in the case put the number at at least 550, and possibly more than 1,000.

Extreme cases can quickly prompt descriptions such as megalomania or narcissism. Indekeu says no conclusion can be drawn without asking the men themselves. She points to a general psychological rule: behavior tends to be repeated when it produces a positive effect for the person. The question, she says, is whether such donors understand the long-term effects of fathering so many children and reflect on them.

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I think we should mainly ask them themselves.

Research into ordinary sperm donors identifies several broad motivations. Altruism is one important factor, with men seeking to help others fulfill their wish to have children. Personal fertility and reproduction also matter to some donors. They may believe they have good traits, abilities or genetic predispositions that they want to pass on.

Adriejan van Veen, who researches abuses in artificial insemination and is himself donor-conceived, discovered through a DNA test that a Dutch fertility doctor had used his own sperm in inseminations. Sixty-five other donor-conceived children linked to the same doctor are now known. Van Veen says secrecy and anonymity, which long surrounded donor conception, helped create conditions for abuse. Donor anonymity was abolished in the Netherlands in 2004, and registration and oversight mechanisms have since increased, but problems have continued. Poor controls can also create a risk of hereditary diseases.

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One of the factors that encouraged abuses was the secrecy and anonymity that surrounded donor conception for a long time.