Man claims he fathered ‘800 kids’ by donating sperm

While more and more women in the UK are using donated sperm to get pregnant, many of them are taking the help of unlicensed donors to avoid high-priced treatment at private clinics.

Simon Watson is one such unlicensed donor who has fathered several hundred children already, reports the BBC.

The 41-year-old man has been a sperm donor for 16 years now, donating once a week.

"Usually one [baby] a week pops out. I reckon I've got about 800 so far, so within four years I'd like to crack 1,000," he has told the Victoria Derbyshire programme aired on the BBC.

"I've got kids all the way from Spain to Taiwan, so many countries. I'd like to get the world record ever, make sure no-one's going to break it, get as many as possible."

The regulator, the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA), does not allow a man to father more than 10 children.

Each cycle of artificial insemination at privately-run licensed clinics costs a woman between £500 and £1,000, while rules for it at the NIS are extremely strict.

But Watson charges only £50 for his services.

He uses Facebook to find his clients. He undergoes tests for STDs every three months and posts his hospital certificate online.

On Facebook, the clients inquire whether he has any hereditary diseases, and subsequently meet.

They either book a hotel room or use the public toilets.

Watson, who provides his own pot and syringe, and claims almost 33 percent first-time success.

"If you go to a fertility clinic people have to go through lots of hurdles - counselling sessions, huge amounts of tests and then charge absolute fortunes for the service - but realistically if you've got a private donor you can just go and see them, meet them somewhere, get what you want and just go," Watson explains.

But critics say women put themselves at risk of sexual diseases, hereditary disorders by seeking unauthorised donors.

The report quotes Laura Witjens, chief executive of the National Gamete Donation Trust, as saying that things do not go wrong often but could go "horrifically" wrong  if they do.

"There are too many occurrences where in other circumstances it would be called sexual harassment or rape."

She says donation have a "lovey dovey" air about them with people wanting to "help".

"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," the report quotes Witjens as saying.

Watson has been married twice and has three children. He began sperm donation after his first marriage ended.

"If they ever come and see me later that's great, but if they don't, they don't," he says about the kids he has fathered.

A desire to boost his ego may have served as his motivation, he admits.

"I didn't get my first girlfriend until I was 18. I thought, 'I'm never going to get married and have kids.' A psychologist would say that's where it stemmed from, but I don't know, I've never been to one," he is quoted to have said on the show.