A 43-year-old Dutch YouTuber, Jonathan Jacob Meijer, who has fathered 550 children worldwide, is facing legal action to prevent him from contacting his offspring.
The lawsuit, filed by one of the mothers of his donor children, alleges that Meijer has violated an agreement to “keep away.”
An organization supporting donor children, Stichting Donorkind, has also called for an end to Meijer’s efforts to connect with the children.
According to Natalie Dijkdrenth, the mother who initiated the case, “Jonathan is presenting himself as some sort of uncle, but he is really acting as a parent from a distance. He is trying to have a role in our family.”
Speaking to Dutch outlet de Volkskrant, she accused Meijer of attempting to influence her son and others by promoting specific parenting philosophies and advising them to seek partners resembling them in appearance and mindset.
In response, Meijer shared a silent video on his YouTube channel, overlaying it with text describing the case as an “Attack on my FREEDOM OF SPEECH.”
The video followed him walking through the woods, occasionally stopping to “shush” the camera, and concluded with an appeal for financial support for his legal battle.
This is not Meijer’s first brush with controversy. In 2023, a court ordered him to cease sperm donations due to concerns about unintentional incest and inbreeding among his children.
At the time, he had fathered 102 children, exceeding the Dutch limit of 25 donor children per individual.
The ruling included fines of €100,000 per violation and instructed clinics to destroy any stored samples. Despite the order, Meijer reportedly continued donating abroad, including to a global Danish sperm bank.
Dijkdrenth expressed concerns that some children might be vulnerable to Meijer’s influence due to their age, noting, “He has a certain attraction for them as a donor.” She also pointed out Meijer’s public presence, which includes appearances on Loose Women and a Netflix documentary titled The Man With 1,000 Kids.
Meijer has criticized the documentary, calling it “misleading” and claiming it negatively impacted his relationships with some of his donor children. In a video addressed to the children, he lamented the deterioration of these relationships, saying, “I have always been respectful towards them, always respected their privacy, always listened to what they want.” However, he admitted to blocking some parents after facing what he described as “verbal abuse.”
In other videos, Meijer has taken aim at certain mothers, referring to them as “bully mums” and criticizing their parenting. Reflecting on his journey, he told The Independent, “I never had the idea to have 100 children or 500 children. It happened step by step. Many donors want to be in the news, but for me, if nobody knew about me, that would be absolutely fine.”
Meijer began donating sperm in 2007 at the age of 25 and has since become a polarizing figure, with families divided over his role in their lives.
