Ed Houben, Sperm Donor, Has Fathered 82 Children

Ed Houben was a virgin until the age of 34. Now he's the biological father of 82 children.

Der Spiegel reports that the 42-year-old Dutchman performs his services for free, offering women and couples a chance to conceive a child without the expense of using a sperm bank.

But Houben is different from typical sperm donors in that he actually has sex with the women to whom he is donating.

According to his own self-collected data, Houben succeeds in producing a child 80 percent of the time.

While what he does is perfectly legal, Der Spiegel notes that if any of his clients tried to sue him for child support, he'd have no legal grounds to stop them.

Houben, who the Daily Mail describes as the "most prolific professional babymaker in the world," meets his clients through SpermaSpender.de, which, as Gawker explains, is "a German sperm donation network that encourages women and donors to connect independently and set up donation contracts on their own terms."

In 2008, the Telegraph wrote about Houben, who, at the time, simply gave his sperm sample to women, instead of having sex with them as he does now.

"I do it because I know how hard it is for people who desperately want a child," he told the Telegraph. "Also going through fertility clinics can be very time-consuming and costly for them."

The latest round of Houben stories come three months after a self-described "donorsexual" made headlines for fathering 14 kids without ever having sex.

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Comments

[MarianoG]

02:05 PM on 08/26/2012

Some people have made themselves into such caricatures that one could not make fun of them even if they wanted to nor could they make it up.
Arianna Huffington stated that it is "not immoral" for this man to fornicate 82 times including with married women (that's 82 reported instances for such purposes and not including, you know, just for "fun").

[Jane Doe]

12:05 PM on 08/26/2012

I think this is disgusting. This man claims he is doing a service for childless couples, but, in fact, he is getting free, no-strings-attached sex with other men's wives and if these people don't keep track of their children, some of them could wind up marrying one another, which would be incestuous. He's just a frigging creep and ought to be neutered.

[Ed Houben]

01:21 AM on 05/09/2012

Instead of blaming the women for having courage, maybe we could have a look at the men who in general got the better deal. They can, normally, choose at what moment they think they are ready for children. And my feeling is, that they choose to do so later than ever... or never. Modern society is changing.

As for myself, I am in the middle of a relationship with a woman, who clearly stated she would like to have children with me. And I am looking forward to raising them and taking responsibility for them and sharing the love which is normal in a family.

[Ed Houben]

01:21 AM on 05/09/2012

Most of these 'selfish' single women give all they can for their children, I could tell you stories... and they grow up in a network of family and friends, where many male examples are present. I get the impression that in America people think a single mother can only live running from the law in some trailer park in Kentucky? I might be repeating myself but most women who visit me have college or higher education and are settled in steady jobs on that level, where they can easily afford to work part-time for as long as is necessary.

So I think there are things to be said for both sides. Please give me some credit for choosing who I help and certainly who I do not help, I do not want children to lack material wellbeing either. As far as not being a father figure goes, we will have to see in the future for 'my' children. But as far as I can see from the first generation of donor children from the 1980's with single moms, they generally turn out better than average and researchers think this is because they were really wanted and feel that way too, because of all the troubles their mothers went through to have them and take the best possible care of them.

[durpina]

02:13 PM on 05/04/2012

Ed, I don't think you're a creep. But I do think you're narcissistic. I pity you and the women that seek you or others like you out for donations, as you or they will never know the special bond of having a child or children with only your lifelong mate/partner. And I feel bad for the children who are created by selfish single women and have to be raised without the support of a fulltime father figure in their lives.

[Ed Houben]

01:20 AM on 05/09/2012

Hi Durpina,

Of course you are free to think that. But I fail to see the huge difference between two groups of women: one being divorced or widowed mothers who sometimes have to raise children by themselves. Generally they are seen as heroes and rightly so.
The women I help usually had relations before they came to me. But whlist the men could move on to the next girlfriend for fun and finding out if it stays funny untill they are 101 years old, women have a biological clock running; past 35 at anytime they might be too late.
I applaud the families where fathers are really there for their children. But in watching just a few episodes of the Supernanny in the USA I see rather often fathers who bury themselves in work so they can provide for the latest game computer for their 4 kids, whilst all the wife and children really want is some attention from this guy who comes to cut the turkey on Thanksgiving.

[Ed Houben]

03:52 PM on 04/29/2012

Well, I have spent an hour trying to give some better information than you may have had so far. I can understand that a lot of people will still think I am a creep. I had that idea about sperm donors myself before I got informed. I know, I am not taking responsibility for the raising and finances of the children. And yes, I am aware children might sue me later for support. But hey, it is a free world where adults choose all the time to have babies without really being able to guarantee them a perfect life. They are however able to give them a fair chance to become loving adults themselves. I trust they will be someday and even if they do not love me, they will not try to get money from someone who has given their life as a gift.

Now, it is back to the haters to dump on me. Enjoy!

[Ed Houben]

03:52 PM on 04/29/2012

Of course I do not hate to have sex. But no one ever asks if I am in the mood for it. It must sound like a dream to some men (as a matter of fact I had worldwide offers from men these weeks wanting to take some of the 'burden') but I advised them all to go to a sperm bank. Forgive my wining but it is not all happy days if you really get involved with people's emotions and hear that someone has miscarried, or medics have fouled up during birth after nine months of perfect pregnancy. That hurts me too.

By the way, someone mentioned overpopulation. Yes, I agree that is a global problem. Here in Western Europe the problem seems to be that the population on average is growing much older fast, as the post-WWII baby boomers are reaching seniority and family sizes for the next generations are declining fast. So I beg your forgiveness that I help children into a region of the world that tries to live up to the Kyoto-protocols, with parents who live more and more in CO2-neutral houses and where there are more job openings than applicants.

[Ed Houben]

03:51 PM on 04/29/2012

Yes, there sometimes is sex. As in the creation of most of us. I am sorry to disappoint everybody, but some things in real life are not like in Hollywood. I have read that less than ten percent in the USA live in a family where the parents fell in love the first time they met. Most of the others supposedly live in second chance families, a lot of times with siblings from another parent present. Or no second parent present. Sorry but the world is changing. A lot of men do not want to take responsibility and keep postponing a family until the biological clock of their partner runs out. That is probably why clinics do not hesitate to ask up to 4000 euro per month without any guarantee. Many people I help have spent their life's savings on medication and doctors, only to be left childless. One couple had been in and out of clinics for ten years; one visit with me and they have a child which they probably love a bit more than people who just have kids because they go with the marriage. This year they would like to try for a brother or sister as the first child, like most, is ahead of the schedules provided for the development of children its age. I am sorry if this sounds boastful but after the derogatory language here I feel the need to defend myself a little bit.

[Ed Houben]

03:50 PM on 04/29/2012

I do not charge the parents anyway. In The Netherlands paying or getting paid for sperm donation is illegal, a man should do that for idealistic reasons and I fully agree. Without exaggeration I can say I lost in ten years around 8000 euro because of expenses I did not bother do get refunded and quitting my 16-year job serving my country and our NATO allegiance as a member of the Dutch National Guard.
This is not because the parents could not afford it; of so far 88 children two are in a social security situation as their parents unexpectedly lost their jobs in the recent crisis. A majority of the people I helped has a university degree and earns a lot more than I do in my fulltime job in history.

[Ed Houben]

03:50 PM on 04/29/2012

Like that donor, I am open to contact for all children as I think it is a child's right to know. At any age, not just at 16 or 18 or not at all like in some countries. As a matter of fact, I met a boy from Germany yesterday and a girl from the Netherlands today; this is what I do with my spare time. And I make sure a meeting is supervised at all times by one of the parents (I stress this because of a foul accusation in another forum). So far I have met more than half the children and they all seem happy and balanced in their situation, sorry to disappoint those predicting a life in damnation for the children.

As for sexually transferred diseases, I get a check-up every 6 months for free at my local Health Authority. They understand that people I help would like to make as certain as possible I do not infect them and I myself would rather fancy growing old with my big belly as only major problem (not hereditary). Furthermore I ask the same tests from all women and their partners, to make sure everyone has already lived through most of adult life without catching something which threatens life or fertility: HIV 1 & 2, Hepatitis B and C, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, Chlamydia. I get these for free in a government sponsored program and I therefore do not charge them to the parents.

[Ed Houben]

03:49 PM on 04/29/2012

I talked to two gynecologists who were involved in this limit. One admitted, this meant that in theory only in The Netherlands on a 16 million population I could be 'used' by them 500 times. Another clearly stated that I should consider that this limit was for anonymous donors. The parents I have helped and soon enough their children all know my name and are free to check with the potential partner and the parents on that side, if there is a risk. Something a clinic cannot prevent even with just one boy and one girl from one donor in different families. And furthermore, my children are not even in one country but in many countries. Maybe your child is statistically more likely to meet one of the children of an American sperm bank donor, who claims to have been so popular that his semen was used to father 600 children in a part of the USA. So there goes the title of me being the world’s most prolific donor as I will never reach that number and would not want to. I knew I would never need to try even in 2003, as an American donor was mentioned in an Oprah Winfrey show who was supposed to have helped with the conception of over 200 children already by then.

[Ed Houben]

03:49 PM on 04/29/2012

One said there are over 3000 known hereditary diseases. Testing for all of them would make trying to conceive astronomically expensive and impossible to afford. So a risk was accepted in the process. I think I can safely say that no one here has been tested for more (genetic) diseases than I... and I have none of them. Are you going to get tested before you try to conceive with your loved one...?

Then the matter of children meeting each other or as someone said in a subtle way: the inbreeding risk. Geneticists, I have been told, made a calculation for fertility clinics. In a region of app. 800.000 inhabitants it is quite acceptable for a clinic to use the same anonymous donor for 25 offspring. This became an agreed limit at Dutch clinics as most only helped people trying to conceive in one region each as the limit was agreed upon in the 1980's.

[Ed Houben]

03:48 PM on 04/29/2012

Fact is, there are a lot of normal people (not just my opinion but a lot of them were beforehand good enough to pass through different stages of doctor's approvals at clinics) who do not like, or do not like anymore of a very important moment in their life to be as cold and clinical as possible. This is a very personal choice in which there is no pressure from my side. I answer questions and leave it up to them. I know, I must be sick.

As one comment keeps pointing out: yes, a brother of mine got MS and died at 22. A trauma I did not forget, even though I was only 8 years old at the time. I mentioned this fact at every clinic where I had an intake with at least a gynecologist and sometimes also a psychologist, all of which had no problems allowing me to be a donor via their clinic for people who preferred that method. I even kept asking about the MS in my family history but all of them said the chances were insignificantly small. But I had not heard about Wikipedia by then, these specialists were obviously misinformed in their profession of fertility doctors.

[Ed Houben]

03:47 PM on 04/29/2012

First of all, I admit that if you see pictures of me, you would not mistake me for Brad Pitt. Actually, I would not mistake some 6 billion people for Brad Pitt. That is why I send pictures (no, normal ones) to everyone who asks for my help. Regardless of the method they choose. But to some people it seems that having a personality is more important than working out six hours a day to get perfect abs.

I said regardless of the method they choose, because contrary to what some media say, I do not only help with the natural method (sex for those who do not understand euphemisms). A lot of people do choose artificial insemination (cup, syringe, figure out the mathematics) and a few choose to ask me to go to a clinic, which I do without discussion.
There remains a group of people (singles as well as couples), who however prefer their child to be created the way that most of us were. Maybe some of us were even created in more unwished for ways. Not so long ago one Republican candidate for presidency insisted that raped women should not be allowed an abortion; something which I found rather compulsive.

[Ed Houben]

03:45 PM on 04/29/2012

Dear readers of of this distinguished Internet magazine with a reputation not unlike that of the Times of London,

I just enjoyed reading the article and some of the comments. It might be wise to point out soem things which might have lead to some discussion here and in the minds of readers who did not post a comment.

My apologies for my appaling English, it is the best I can manage and seen the names some here called me, it is not all that bad.
You might be interested to read the article in Der Spiegel, as someone said. I would just like to say, that I was only allowed to see direct quotes before publication. As this was 'the magazine's policy' and I trusted the reporter, I agreed. Afterwards I felt sorry for this, as I read the end result and certainly would have tried to get some mistakes about and misrepresentations of my person and others interviewed out. Others copied and pasted these mistakes, only some bothered to check the facts with me personally.
Let me answer in parts as there is not enough room per post for all of it.