'Fertility Fraudster': Netflix greenlights true-crime series on serial sperm donor

Over the years, Netflix has amassed an extensive collection of true-crime documentaries featuring both well-known and obscure cases that offered shocking revelations. Joining this ever-expanding collection is Fertility Fraudster (tentative title), which will explore the story of Dutch YouTuber-musician Jonathan Meijer. He has been accused of fathering over 500 children and charged with misleading hundreds of women globally. Here's everything about the upcoming series.

The three-part series will provide an in-depth look into the global fertility industry, highlighting the case of Meijer, accused of fathering over 500 children, reported Deadline. Through exclusive access to a group of resolved mothers, the series will unravel the story of Meijer's deceitful practices, and how these aggrieved mothers are fighting for changes in the law to prevent similar incidents from occurring again.

Fertility Fraudster will be produced by Curious Films alongside AJH Films, the latter of which produced the Donald Trump documentary Unprecedented for Discovery+. The executive producers for the series are Dov Freedman, Jessie Verslyus, Natalie Hill, and Alex Holder. Josh Allott is the director, while Kathryn Taylor is the producer. Curious Films previously worked on a Netflix documentary about antivirus software pioneer John McAfee.

The 41-year-old Dutch sperm donor, Meijer is believed to have fathered 550 children. In March, The Times reported that he was being sued for raising the risk of accidental incest and inbreeding. Late last month, he was ordered by judges in the Netherlands to stop donating sperm and was told that he would face a hefty fine of €100,000 ($110,000) for every future violation.

Dubbed the "serial sperm donor from Hague," Meijer was first reported to the Dutch Society of Obstetrics and Gynaecology in 2017. By that time, he had reportedly already fathered 102 children in the Netherlands after donating sperm in 10 clinics. When he was blacklisted from his home country, he resorted to donating sperm abroad. Reportedly a musician by profession, he currently resides in Kenya.

Similar to Fertility Fraudster, Netflix, in 2022, added a true-crime documentary, Our Father, to its vast library. The gruesome documentary delved into the true story of a former fertility doctor, Donald Cline, who artificially inseminated his female patients with his own sperm without their knowledge. It investigated the doctor's crime of fathering not one but nearly 100 children without the permission of the patients.