Sperm donor claims 27 kids

2008-01-05 14:51

Sydney - An Australian man who gives away his sperm on the black market to avoid stringent official regulations claims to have fathered up to 27 children in two generations, a newspaper reported on Saturday.

John Mayger, 59, is still fertilising about one woman a month privately because he says fertility clinics treat people "like sausages" and prevent donors from being part of their children's lives, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

But Mayger said: "There are a lot of men out there who want to know their offspring and for their offspring to know them, but they are not given that option at fertility clinics.

"I just love kids. I have four of my own and I think it is every woman's right to have a child, but it is also every child's right to know their genetic history," he said.

Mayger, whose marriage broke down, said he advertised his donations in gay newspapers and magazines and had quarterly blood tests for sexually transmitted diseases.

Among his children, he claims two daughters, aged three-months and six-months, a three-month-old son and four babies due in the next four months, plus four adult children from his marriage and a week-old grandson.

He is not listed as the father on any of the donor children's birth certificates and bears no financial responsibility for them, but likes to see the children as often as possible.

Sandra Dill, chief executive of Access, an infertility support and advocacy agency, told the paper women were "insane" to accept fresh sperm from strangers.

"Any woman who does that wants her head examined. It is insane not to have sperm screened, and I would be very curious about a man who wasn't prepared to go through that process," she said. - Sapa-dpa

- SAPA