PARENTAL ADVISORY

Sperm Donor With ‘Fragile-X Syndrome’ Who Sold to Lesbians on Social Media Banned from Contacting Kids

James MacDougall, 37, advertised in a group for gay women seeking donors after a genetic condition prevented him donating through a regulated clinic.

A U.K. sperm donor who hid his incurable genetic condition from the women to whom he advertised on social media has been banned from contacting some of the 15 children he claims to have fathered. James MacDougall, 37, has Fragile X syndrome, which can cause developmental problems ranging from cognitive impairment to learning disabilities. The condition meant MacDougall, who is on the autistic spectrum and has learning difficulties, was unable to donate sperm through a regulated clinic. Instead, he put an ad on a social media page for lesbians seeking sperm donors and fathered more than a dozen children as a result. In court, MacDougall was applying to have parental responsibility for, or contact with, some of the offspring, but his bid was slapped down by a judge. Justice Nathalie Lieven says MacDougall had shown “fundamental irresponsibility” by not coming clean about his condition to the mothers, and by burying references to Fragile X in legal agreements with the women using “highly legalistic language which is difficult to read even for a lawyer.”