Sperm donor who claims to have fathered 180 children loses bid to be declared a father

Advocate warns of a 'deeper issue' across entire industry

By Samantha Kamman, Christian Post Reporter Friday, April 24, 2026

A sperm donor who claims to have fathered at least 180 children globally has lost his bid to be legally recognized as the father of a child conceived after he received an Amazon gift card for his sperm donation, a case that advocates say represents deeper concerns across the sperm donation industry.

Robert Albon began acting as an unregulated sperm donor in 2013, and he advertises his “services” online under the name “Joe Donor.” The serial sperm donor has said he has fathered children in various countries, including Argentina and Australia.

Albon is originally from the United States, but he moved to England in 2020. Last October, Albon sought a High Court declaration recognizing him as the father of a child he helped conceive, identified as N, who was born in 2021.

In a recent ruling, the Family Court’s top judge, Sir Andrew McFarlane, however, dismissed Albon’s application to be declared the father of the 4-year-old child. According to the judge, Albon is not entitled to be declared the child’s father because he was running an unregulated sperm donation business.

A court-appointed guardian for the child, whose job was to advocate for N during court proceedings, stated she would have “grave concerns” for the child’s welfare if Albon were given a declaration of parentage, reports The Guardian. The court-appointed guardian also described Albon as a “shapeshifter” and a “highly dangerous man.”

The mother of N was in a same-sex relationship, and at the time of the child’s birth, the mother’s female partner identified as male. The mother and her partner paid Albon $135 (£100) for the first donation in 2020, which did not result in pregnancy, reports BBC. Albon received a $200 (£150) Amazon gift card for the second donation, which did lead to a pregnancy.

The case marks the fourth time the prolific sperm donor has pursued legal action against individuals who used his sperm to conceive a child.

Kallie Fell, a perinatal nurse and executive director of the Center for Bioethics and Culture (CBC), told The Christian Post that the case is extreme but not isolated.

The CBC, she said, has seen numerous cases involving a single individual being linked to “dozens or even hundreds of children” through unregulated sperm donation, and even supposedly regulated systems.

“This case highlights a deeper issue across the entire sperm donation industry. This isn’t the first man to create an extraordinary number of biological children, and it likely won’t be the last unless meaningful accountability is enforced,” Fell said.

“Whether outside the system or within the fertility industry market, we are still allowing this to happen. At that scale, it’s not just a regulatory gap — it’s an ethical failure,” she added. “Unfortunately, the ones caught in the crossfire are the children, left to navigate complex questions of belonging, identity, medical history, and family connection that no child should have to carry.”

In 2022, Netflix released a documentary titled “Our Father,” which tells the stories of the patients of Dr. Donald Cline, an Indianapolis-based fertility doctor who secretly impregnated at least 50 women with his own sperm in the 1970s and 1980s.

The documentary features interviews with the genetic siblings the fertility doctor created by swapping their intended father’s sperm with his own.

“Jacoba Ballard was conceived through a sperm donor using artificial insemination. Growing up as an only child, she dreamed of having siblings. After using an at-home DNA test, Ballard discovered that she had not one but seven half-siblings,” the documentary’s synopsis reads.

“Unfortunately, this isn’t a story about one happy family reunion. As the group of siblings set out to learn more about their curious family tree, they uncovered a sickening truth: Their parents’ fertility doctor had been inseminating his patients with his own sperm — without their consent.”

In a lawsuit filed in 2023, Sarah Depoian accused a fertility doctor of secretly using his own sperm to impregnate her while telling her it came from an anonymous donor.

The suit, filed in the U.S. District Court for the District of Massachusetts, argued that Dr. Merle Berger “violated Ms. Depoian” by using his own sperm. Depoian had agreed to intrauterine insemination in 1980 after the doctor allegedly told her he would use the sperm of a medical resident who resembled her husband.

Years later, Depoian’s daughter, Carolyn Bester, discovered she was related to Berger after purchasing a DNA kit to learn more about her family history.