Netflix's The Man With 1000 Kids most shocking details from incest fears to court battle

Netflix's The Man With 1000 Kids delves into some disturbing details and documents a tense legal battle between one sperm donor and the families he enraged.

By Hannah McGreevy, Content Editor

The Man with 1000 Kids official trailer

*Warning - The following article contains spoilers for The Man With 1000 Kids.*

Netflix's latest documentary, The Man With 1000 Kids, is set to release tomorrow. It unravels the unsettling story of Jonathan Jacob Meijer and his impact on countless families. The three-part series narrates the story of a charismatic Dutch man who seems to have globe-trotted with the aim of fathering children on a large scale through sperm banks.

In an interview with the BBC, Jonathan has since claimed he did "absolutely nothing wrong" and has slammed claims he misled the women he donated to. Directed by Josh Allott and produced by Kathryn Taylor, the docu-series is filled with unexpected twists and turns.

We also encounter other peculiar characters with seemingly dark intentions and learn the alleged lengths they'll go to increase the world's population. The programme primarily centres on groups of distressed parents worldwide, sharing their experiences with the YouTuber. It also delves into the murky aspects of the fertility industry and reveals how some international fertility clinics still permit anonymous donations due to the absence of global regulations.

Keen to discover all the most shocking revelations from Netflix's The Man With 1000 Kids? We've got you covered, but be warned: significant spoilers lie ahead.

Jonathan Jacob Meijer in The man with 1000 kids

The man with 1000 kids follows the story of Jonathan Jacob Meijer (Image: NETFLIX)

Jonathan Meijer doesn’t seem to know how many kids he has 

Throughout the revealing documentary, Jonathan is said to consistently lie to various would-be parents regarding the number of children he has fathered, as well as his future donation plans.

The Dutch man shares significantly varying figures with each potential mother, highlighting a seemingly clear intent to continue his puzzling obsession with sperm donation indefinitely.

In a court case, he admits that he has fathered "nearly 600" offspring. Nevertheless, based on the film's evidence, there could be up to 3000 children thanks to both private agreements and official sperm bank contributions.

The documentary states: "Private recipients rely on the honesty of donors. This is also true of the global sperm bank market.

"These clinics still have no way to check how many children a donor has. Unless this changes, it's impossible to effectively regulate this $5 billion industry."

The Man With 1000 Kids parents

The Man With 1000 Kids features a tense court battle (Image: NETFLIX)

Jonathan Meijer apparently didn't act alone

Adding another twist, the second part of the series claims that Jonathan was in fact coordinating efforts with another accomplice, thanks to their mutual fascination with sperm donation.

Another source, who identified himself as yet another sperm donor, revealed: "Jonathan wasn't acting alone, he worked together with another Dutch donor to deceive hundreds of women in Holland and all across the world to father as many children as possible.

"I got to know these guys through the website and they spoke openly to me about it," he expounded, before dropping the bombshell that a man named Leon had allegedly been managing the online portal connecting would-be mums with eager sperm donors.

He then claimed that most of the profiles on the website, purporting to be various men, were actually bogus and that women were essentially selecting between just Jonathan and Leon.

The documentary further alleges that for these two men, fathering children became a perverse competition in what escalated into a "dangerous game".

Jonathan Jacob Meijer’s bizarre suggestion for how his children could avoid incest 

As the women recount their stressful legal confrontation with Jonathan in the documentary, they express their revulsion at his cavalier attitude when the risk of incest among his numerous progeny is mentioned.

When the judge highlights that Jonathan cannot feasibly monitor his multitude of offspring to prevent inadvertent incestuous connections, he dismisses the concern.

His solution is simplistic: he proposes that on dating platforms, for instance, all his children could display a specific symbol on their profiles to alert their half-siblings of their shared paternity.

The parents, understandably, criticized this idea, noting it would compel their children to disclose highly personal details and depend on them to interrogate every potential romantic interest about their conception origins via sperm donation.

The judge was evidently unpersuaded as well, concluding that Jonathan's behaviour indeed constituted a threat to the wellbeing of all families involved.

Jonathan Jacob Meijer will have to pay an eye-watering fine if he donates again

In a shocking twist at the end of episode 3, it was revealed that the families battling Jonathan in court had finally achieved their happy ending.

The documentary announced: "In April 2023, Jonathan Jacob Meijer was banned from donating sperm to new parents anywhere in the world."

It added: "Failure to comply will result in a €100,000 penalty per donation. Meijer must also request that sperm banks destroy any of his semen available to new parents."

The Man With 1000 Kids airs exclusively on Netflix from 8am, July 3.

Would you like to receive news notifications from Daily Express?