More women than ever are using donor sperm to get pregnant, but many find the cost of private treatment prohibitive. This means that some women are turning to unlicensed donors, such as 41-year-old Simon Watson.
Talking to the BBC, Watson said he has been an unlicensed sperm donor for 16 years, donating once a week.
“Usually one [baby] a week pops out. I reckon I’ve got about 800 so far, so within four years I’d like to crack 1,000,” he tells the Victoria Derbyshire programme.
“I’ve got kids all the way from Spain to Taiwan, so many countries. I’d like to get the world record ever, make sure no-one’s going to break it, get as many as possible.”
Simon Watson says he has fathered 800 children.
Watson finds most of his clients on Facebook and charges £50 for his service, which he dubs “the magic potion pot”.
Typically the transaction takes place at a service station on the M1. Clients will either book a private room in the hotel or use the public toilets. Watson provides his own pot and syringe.
Watson is tested for STD’s every three months and he posts his hospital certificate online.
Watson says that using an unlicensed donor reduces the number of hoops prospective parents have to jump through.
“If you go to a fertility clinic people have to go through lots of hurdles – counselling sessions, huge amounts of tests and then charge absolute fortunes for the service – but realistically if you’ve got a private donor you can just go and see them, meet them somewhere, get what you want and just go,” he explains.
However, critics warn that using an unlicensed donor is putting women at risk of sexual diseases, hereditary disorders and men interested in “no strings” unprotected sex.
Laura Witjens, chief executive of the National Gamete Donation Trust, says it does not often go wrong, but when it does, it goes “horrifically” wrong.
“There are too many occurrences where in other circumstances it would be called sexual harassment or rape,” she told the BBC.
Witjens also notes that the issue of child welfare is hard to ignore. In the UK the law states that children born as a result of a sperm donor have the right to know the identity of their father, however the donor isn’t named on the birth certificate and is not a legal parent.
But with an unlicensed donor a woman can ask for child support at any time, and there is nothing to stop the father from claiming paternity.
Witjens reminds perspective parents that raising children is an expensive job: “if you can’t afford £1,500 to secure safety for yourself and your child, you should wonder if you’re fit for parenthood. It’s an expensive job,” she says.
“What I find surprising is women investigate holiday destinations more than this.”
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