Sperm donor who 'fathered 180 children lacks empathy' and 'seeks to control others'

A who claims to have fathered more than 180 children “lacks empathy” and “seeks to control others” to get his way, a judge has said. Unregulated donor Robert Albon, who advertises his services on social media under the name “Joe Donor”, claims to have fathered children in countries as far away as Argentina and .

The 54 year old, originally from the United States, started acting as an unregulated sperm donor in 2013 and came to England in 2020. At a hearing in March, the family court in Middlesbrough considered arrangements for a girl, known as CA, born in early 2023, after her mother contacted him to be a donor.

At a hearing in March, the family court in Middlesbrough considered arrangements for a girl, known as CA, born in early 2023, after her mother contacted him to be a donor. The local authority in the case and the child’s mother supported limited indirect contact with Mr Albon, while he opposed the proposals and asked a judge to give him parental responsibility for the child, as well as either face-to-face contact or more extensive indirect contact.

The court also heard the case of a girl fathered by Mr Albon, who was born in 2022 and known as CB. The local authority asked for a care order with indirect contact after adoption or long-term fostering, while Mr Albon asked for her to be placed in his care. But in a 51-page judgment published on Wednesday, Mr Justice Poole refused Mr Albon’s bids for increased contact or placement.

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The High Court judge said women who use Mr Albon as a sperm donor are mostly single women or in same-sex relationships, adding it appeared that a high proportion of women in the UK who used his services are “vulnerable in one way or another”.

Mr Albon told the court that he charges £100 to deliver his sperm by post, after putting his semen into a syringe and packaging it with frozen tomato puree, to keep it at a suitable temperature, before sending the parcel.

Mr Justice Poole said Mr Albon uses light-hearted terms while advertising his services online, including referring to his semen as “Joe’s Juice” or “baby batter”. The children in the two cases were conceived through sexual intercourse, described as “natural insemination”, the court was told.

The judge said: “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.”

Mr Justice Poole later said that Mr Albon’s motives for acting as a donor had been questioned during the proceedings, adding: “Is he motivated by the desire to have sex with many different women? Is he compelled to reproduce?

"Does he enjoy gratification from knowing that there are scores of his children on the earth? Is he simply attention-seeking Does he want to secure his immigration status? It is difficult to look into the mind of Mr Albon because he is not self-reflective.”

The judge later said that the risks of using the prolific unregulated sperm donor are obvious, including the risk of Mr Albon seeking parental responsibility or other court orders, as well as unknown potential health issues.

Mr Justice Poole said that Mr Albon is “ambiguous” about his future involvement when he is first contacted by the potential mothers, giving him the ability to decide at a later date whether or not to become involved.

“When he needs a roof over his head he has crept into the lives of women to his advantage,” the judge said, adding: “He uses others’ vulnerability and naivety to suit his own ends.” The judge found that Mr Albon had tried to control five of the six women in England and Wales known to have carried his biological children, including using litigation as a way of control.

Mr Justice Poole ruled: “He lacks empathy and only has superficial relationships with others…he is dismissive of those who do not agree with him or who question his behaviour and beliefs. 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 judge said that CB can be adopted, finding that placing CB with Mr Albon would not be in her best interests and that there was a “substantial risk” she would be cast aside. He said: “His only friends appear to be fellow unregulated sperm donors. That is his .”

Mr Justice Poole also found that while Mr Albon can be declared as CA’s father on a re-registered birth certificate, he refused the bid to grant the donor parental responsibility or increased contact. “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,” the judge said.

Mr Albon will be allowed to send a letter or card once a year to CA, to be passed on once CA’s mother thinks it is appropriate. Mr Justice Poole also ordered that a copy of his judgment should be sent to the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority, the regulator for fertility clinics, and the Home Office.