Facebook sperm donor fathered 15 for lesbians without telling them about genetic condition

A 37-year-old U.K. man who offered his sperm on social media did not inform the women that he had an inheritable genetic condition that may cause development delays and learning disabilities.

James MacDougall fathered fifteen children to lesbian couples he advertised to on social media knowing he had fragile-X syndrome, a genetic disorder that causes impaired cognition and learning, reports The Daily Mail.

His name and actions were released Monday in family court after a judge sided with three mothers and rejected MacDougall’s attempt to gain access to the children he fathered with them. He had signed agreements with the women saying he did not want any contact with his children.

Judge Nathalie Lieven’s decision to name him was an unusual one as family court proceedings are usually anonymous, reports LGBT magazine The Advocate. She said decided to publicize his identity “in the hope that women will look him up on the internet and see this judgment.”

“The usual approach of anonymity in the Family Courts should not be used as a way for parents to behave in an unacceptable manner and then hide behind the cloak of anonymity,” Lieven told The Mail.

Leivin agreed with lawyers who argued MacDougall chose to be a sperm donor privately because he knew he would not pass the screening at a fertility clinic or sperm bank.

Some of the agreements women signed mentioned fragile-X but the judge ruled that MacDougall took no steps to explain the condition or ensure they understood.

“This failure to take responsibility for his own condition and to have any apparent concern for the long-term impact both on the mothers and potentially the children, is a factor in concluding that [he] should not be given parental responsibility for the children,” Leivin ruled.

MacDougall has had tense relations with the mothers he donated to. He was arrested for allegedly assaulting one mother in June 2020 after repeatedly visiting her child.

Another court allowed him to have regular contact with another child, but that court order was suspended after the child as returned with non-accidental bruises.

Leiven also barred MacDougall from applying to the court for the next three years because it would traumatize the mothers.