The Man With 1000 Kids: How many children does Jonathan Meijer actually have and how was he caught?

Audiences have been stunned after learning about Europe’s biggest fertility scandal. in Netfix's The Man With 1000 Kids - with one sperm donor thought to have fathered hundreds of children across Europe.

The Man With 1000 Kids reveals how Jonathan Meijer reportedly went unchecked as he donated sperm on a mass scale - despite regulations being in place to limit donations.

With interviews from those affected by the scandal and lawmakers, the documentary explores how the Dutch man managed to father hundreds of babies across the world with his donations. 

Despite the documentary’s headline grabbing title, though, viewers have been left questioning exactly how many children Jonathan Meijer actually has. 

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How many children does Jonathan Meijer have?

Though there is debate over the actual number, the Netflix documentary opens by stating that Meijer has 550 biological children.

However, across the series, that figure varies with one judge referring to the 600 children Meijer fathered.

With the Dutch national accused of flouting limits in multiple countries and clinics, some estimates are significantly higher.

Meijer also reportedly donated privately, finding families were willing to accept his sperm via social media.

Though specimens were often provided, The Guardian also reports that a few women received 'natural donations' and were impregnated by Meijer.

In a 2017 court case, it was alleged that he could have fathered as many as 1,000 children across the world - however the exact figure is unknown. 

What has Jonathan Meijer said about the documentary?

Meijer has hit back at the documentary’s claims on his YouTube channel and in multiple interviews.

Speaking on Radio 4’s Woman’s Hour, he told listeners, "They deliberately called [the documentary] The Man With 1,000 Kids, when it should be 'the sperm donor who helped families conceive with 550 children'.

"So already from the start they are deliberately deceiving and misleading."

Jonathan also refused to appear in the recent documentary.

How was Jonathan Meijer caught?

Having previously accepted donations from Jonathan Meijer, some families began to become suspicious of the musician.

With concerns about the potential scale of his donations, recipients began to contact each other via social media and eventually formed a support group on Facebook.

Desperate to find the man at the centre of the scandal, they began tracking his location via his YouTube videos and even checked records at nearby sperm banks.

It’s only then that those affected started seeking legal action.

At a court case last year, Meijer was banned from donating sperm and was asked to write to affected clinics to destroy any remaining donations.

If he is found breaching this rule, the Dutch could be fined in excess of £80,000.

Since then, Meijer has left the Netherlands and has settled in Tanzania.

The Man With 1000 Kids is available to stream on Netflix now.