A judge has ruled against a serial sperm donor engaged in a custody battle for two children out of the nearly 200 he has created, saying there is “substantial risk” the children would be cast aside.
KEY TAKEAWAYS:
- Serial sperm donor Robert Charles Albon, an American living in the UK for five years, has been denied custody of two of his biological children — out of the 180 he claims to have fathered.
- One of the children was conceived through intercourse, and the other through artificial insemination.
- Messages show that Albon was attempting to use one of the children to gain housing and government benefits.
THE DETAILS:
Robert Charles Albon, who goes by the moniker “Joe Donor” on social media, claims to have fathered 180 children, often shipping his sperm packaged next to frozen tomato purée to keep it cold. Originally from the United States, Albon has been an unregulated sperm donor since 2013, and moved to the United Kingdom (UK) in 2020.
In 2023, he sought to have contact with — and eventually, parental control over — one of the babies he created, listed as “CA” by the courts. He also sought custody of another little girl, listed as “CB.” Both requests have been denied.
“The evidence before the court shows that Mr Albon will have sex with, or provide his sperm for artificial insemination, to just about anyone who asks,” High Court judge Mr Justice Poole said in his ruling. “I have no confidence that Mr Albon would commit to contact and find it likely that he would move on to another family when it suited him, as he has done previously.”
Poole questioned the motives behind such serial sperm donation, asking why men like Albon create so many children, and condemned him as selfish, manipulative, and self-serving.
“Is he compelled to reproduce? Does he enjoy gratification from knowing that there are scores of his children on the earth?” Poole asked. “He seeks to control others to prove that he is right, to secure recognition, to get his own way and to serve his own ends.”
THE BACKSTORY:
One of the children was conceived through intercourse, while the other was conceived through artificial insemination. The court was able to consider messages exchanged between Albon and the first woman, CB’s mother, with whom he had sex; she had reached out to him for his donor services, and he traveled 250 miles to have intercourse with her, reportedly as a “free” service.
“Have done an awful lot of thinking about how you have treated me. I can’t eat,” she messaged him afterwards. “I actually came within minutes of ending my life this morning. It was my 17-year-old that stopped me. I cannot carry on any longer. You have truly broken me.”
Other messages found that Albon was trying to use CB to gain housing and other benefits from the government. Poole said CB can be placed for adoption, but that Albon will not be eligible; with CA, he can be listed as the biological father on her birth certificate, but cannot have any parental responsibility or increased contact.
THE BOTTOM LINE:
The unregulated fertility industry has allowed men like Albon to flourish, fathering hundreds, if not thousands, of children — reducing them to dehumanized products to be sold to anyone willing to pay.
