Netflix’s new docuseries The Man With 1,000 Kids takes a deep dive into the world of sperm donation, in particular the life of Dutch “super donor” Jonathan Meijer. The man has fathered hundreds of children through his sperm donation. So where is he now? And how does he feel about being the subject of a Netflix documentary? Here’s what you need to know.
Jonathan Meijer, the subject of The Man With 1,000 Kids, is a Dutch vlogger.
The Man With 1,000 Kids on Netflix looks at “the murky world of the fertility industry and uncovers how, due to a lack of global regulations, some international fertility clinics continue to allow anonymous donations.”
“With exclusive access to a group of passionate and aggrieved parents, this series unravels the twisting and turning story of this YouTuber who defrauded parents from all around the world, and how they are now on a mission to push for a change in the law to prevent him deceiving more,” the Netflix synopsis reads.
The man in question is Dutch YouTube musician and vlogger Jonathan Meijer, a man who travels the world creating videos as the “Dutch rebel.” Meijer is one of eight children himself, according to the Daily Mirror, and worked as a civics teacher, a mail carrier, and a cryptocurrency consultant before focusing on his social media presence.
Today, Meijer is in his early 40s and regularly posts videos about his experience as a sperm donor on his YouTube channel.
He started donating sperm in 2007.
Meijer first started donating sperm in 2007 when he registered at 11 different clinics and a Cryos sperm bank, the Daily Mirror reports. He has been accused of lying to each of the clinics and parents, per Newsweek, leading clinics to believe he was donating to them exclusively when in reality, he had fathered more than 100 children by 2017. He was banned from donating in his own country that year, and went on to donate sperm in other countries. As of a 2023 video filmed by Meijer himself, the super sperm donor believed he spent 50,000 hours as a donor for at least 15 years.
People affected by Meijer’s sperm donations worry about their children’s futures.
Families affected by Meijer’s en masse sperm donation have spoken out about the possible ramifications for their kids’ futures with so many potential siblings in the world. “If I had known he had already fathered more than 100 children I would never have chosen him. If I think about the consequences this could have for my child I am sick to my stomach,” one mother, known as Eva in a lawsuit taken against Meijer by affected families, previously said, per the New York Post. “Many mothers have told him he needs to stop, but nothing helps. So going to court is the only option I have to protect my child.”
For his part, Meijer admitted in a 2023 interview with the Daily Mirror that he lied to the mothers who accepted his sperm donations. “Yes, I lied to the women. That was wrong. I wanted to help them,” he said at the time. It’s been reported that 375 of his children live in the Netherlands, 80 in Germany, 35 in Belgium, four in Argentina, and two in Australia.
Meijer has already responded to the Netflix documentary.
While he chose not to participate in the Netflix docuseries The Man With 1,000 Children, Meijer has already issued a public response. In a video posted from Italy in June, Meijer said he felt the title of the documentary was “very misleading” and “sensationalizing.” Meijer says he’s fathered around 550 children instead of 1,000 via sperm donation. “So, somehow, they managed to magically add 450 children to my record. And I’m curious what they base it on.”
The Man With 1,000 Kids premieres on Netflix on July 3.
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