James MacDougall: serial sperm donation with fragile X syndrome

[user75]

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-10868359/Sperm-donor-incurable-condition-fathered-15-children-lesbian-mothers.html

There are huge risks of arranging donation via social media and this is only 1 example. These poor women have even been forced to give this man who was branded "a complex person, with learning difficulties and on the autistic spectrum, with fixed views, concrete thinking and a profound lack of insight" by a judge contact with their children. What a horrendous situation.

[ToriesKillingNHS]

Horrific situation,

Disturbingly, he looks a bit familiar …

[KangarooKenny]

I thought he looked familiar too. I wonder if he’s been on TV before 🤔

[Soontobe60]

Those poor poor babies!

[Dinotour]

I thought he looked a bit familiar too but think it might just be he looks similar to someone well known.

I do feel for those who cannot access the appropriate services to get donations that have been screened etc, and I do think some aren't aware of the potential for the 'father' to request access and his rights so social media is not a good place for this to happen.

[rnsaslkih]

All of his female children will have fragile x

he should be forced to have a vasectomy, since he has knowingly used his sperm to inflict a serious medical condition on these female children

[exwhyzed]

I wonder if it had been a male judge if the decisions would have been the same.

Especially the decision to name him and allow his identity to be published specifically to try and prevent other women from being harmed by his actions.

[user75]

@Dinotour

I thought he looked a bit familiar too but think it might just be he looks similar to someone well known.

I do feel for those who cannot access the appropriate services to get donations that have been screened etc, and I do think some aren't aware of the potential for the 'father' to request access and his rights so social media is not a good place for this to happen.

I really feel for women who struggle to access though the official services. This is such a dreadful and predictable situation.

[ChoccyJules]

Reading the whole article it seems a lot of this man‘s issues are not necessarily linked to Fragile X at all. The stalking behaviour, violence. It’s only one of his diagnoses.
Many people with FXS will not behave like this and on the contrary are empathetic and genuine. I am not keen on the tone of this but I understand that’s not the thrust of the article, which is his deception.

[HermioneWeasley]

It’s a horrendous situation and terrible for the children, but really, what were the mothers thinking? One of the things you’re paying for going through a clinic is that the donor is screened and tested - finding strange men on the internet to donate sperm is a cheap option for a reason!

[Candleabra]

What an awful situation. The poor babies and their mums.

[supertedious]

It's horrendous, worryingly some people on social media are trying to defend him and saying he has been " set up" and they have never seen him as a risk! Poor, poor children

[ENoeuf]

There's more to this than just the sperm donation - he has met at least one child several times, lived with the mother during lockdown and had a relationship with another one. Lots of muddled boundaries and vulnerable individuals in this mess.

[picklemewalnuts]

This is an appalling case, and needs widely publicising so women are more aware of the dangers of informal sperm donation.

Just another abusive man getting his jollies on manipulating women, but the impact on the children is even worse than usual.

Poor women, poor children.

[zafferana]

He's clearly preyed on some extremely vulnerable women, but this should be a cautionary tale to any woman who is thinking of getting sperm from some random bloke off social media

[SleepingStandingUp]

The document also said, on page 3, that he had Fragile X syndrome without explaining what this meant, and SW, who has problems reading and is extremely vulnerable, said she did not read that far into the agreement, the judge said.

This is all such a mess beyond "don't buy sperm on Facebook". Those poor kids

[Walesaudit]

@rnsaslkih

All of his female children will have fragile x

he should be forced to have a vasectomy, since he has knowingly used his sperm to inflict a serious medical condition on these female children

I have fragile x in my family, the boys are badly affected by it.

[JacquelineCarlyle]

I'd never heard of Fragile X before & this story is horrendous. Sounds like lots of very vulnerable individuals & now a lot of vulnerable children also. Terrible. So pleased the judge has named him.

[Handsoffreturns]

It’s the poor children that I feel truly sorry for. He sounds like a really nasty and potentially very dangerous bastard. The women involved also appear to be very vulnerable / easily manipulated.

[rnsaslkih]

@Walesaudit

I have fragile x in my family, the boys are badly affected by it.

I think the boys have to inherit from a female - so I think that the boys fathered by this sperm donor will not have fragile x because they got their Y chromosome from the donor

[Handsoffreturns]

Unfortunately I don’t think the judge naming him will make a blind bit of difference to some. Vulnerable women, some possibly with learning difficulties/mental health issues will continue to be easy pickings for him.

[bigbootyjulie]

Interesting that this is not a crime. 🤔

Informal sperm donation is very risky indeed. Some men will not be honest about STDs and genetic conditions.

[BenCooperisaGod]

So much if this is really off. I think i read that one couple went on to have a 2nd child with him, and knew him quite well.

I would be very doubtful that they would not have recognised he had some pretty profound issues. Even if he doesn't have the full blown syndrome it likely would have been pretty apparent he has some additional needs (it does vary in presentation depending on how disrupted the X chromosome is). The judge understood his limitations very readily.

How did so many women not see that something wasn't quite right? How did none of them query whether he was capable of giving consent? How did none of them ask what this might mean for their children. How did his parents not step in once they knew what he was doing.

Every female child of his will be at least a carrier of this genetic condition and will potentially herself be affected by it. Male children will be unaffected

Huge lack of due diligence here and lots of questions to be asked.

[KimikosNightmare]

@SleepingStandingUp

The document also said, on page 3, that he had Fragile X syndrome without explaining what this meant, and SW, who has problems reading and is extremely vulnerable, said she did not read that far into the agreement, the judge said.

This is all such a mess beyond "don't buy sperm on Facebook". Those poor kids

Should he have said more? It's easy enough to Google it and the results are frightening.

It's utterly dreadful for the children but the mothers have responsibility too for this mess.

Male children will be unaffected No, seems boys are more likely to be affected.

[KimikosNightmare]

@bigbootyjulie

Interesting that this is not a crime. 🤔

Informal sperm donation is very risky indeed. Some men will not be honest about STDs and genetic conditions.

Why do you think it would or should be a crime? And what would the crime be?

Many people, men and women with known problematic , inheritable conditions have children. Some men have multiple children with multiple partners.

In one case at least he did say he had this condition. He didn't explain further, but serious question, was it up to him to expand on that or for the recipient to look into it?

[greenteafiend]

I don't see if it can be a crime given that there is no law governing the informal insertion of semen using turkey basters--nor should there be (it could render various sexual acts illegal since many of us have genetic conditions we did not know about). Poor babies. What an awful story.