On his Facebook profile, “Superpapa” made the “S” of his nickname: sperm has become a rare and coveted commodity. Faced with the shortage which causes a long wait in the legal circuit, “wild” sperm donations are being organized on social networks. “Special Envoy” met a French “serial donor”.
“I offer women, whether they are in a relationship or whether they are single, the possibility of having a child.” At 65, the man who calls himself “Superpapa” would have “helped” some 300 women by donating sperm, resulting in around a hundred births, according to him.
A track record of which the sixty-year-old is very proud: “On some boys, I see myself, little one”, he confides, showing his virtual album, made up of photos sent by mothers. Some, however, are suspicious and give him a false first name – for fear, according to him, of a request for paternity. A totally unfounded fear, specifies this donor who says he acts out of altruism: “It’s not me who’s going to run after them to say, ‘It’s my child.’ They wanted it, they take care of it.” He himself is a father, he has four children.
It was after a separation, in 2007, that he began donating his sperm outside official channels, via Facebook groups, one of which has nearly 7,000 members. His “Superpapa” profile uses the Superman logo, with a sperm as his initial. He had planned to stop ten years ago (in sperm banks, the donor age limit is set at 45, and the number of donations resulting in a birth is limited to ten), but in view of the number of requests, he continued…
Requests have exploded since the opening, in 2021, of PMA (medically assisted procreation) to single women and lesbian couples. On average, it takes between one and two years to wait to benefit from a sperm donation from a Center for the Study and Conservation of Human Eggs and Sperm (CECOS), because there is a shortage of 800 candidates each year. donors. Faced with this shortage, a “sperm black market” has been set up on social networks.
The future father recruited on Facebook provides the precious semen, with sexual intercourse (so-called “natural” method) or without (the insemination will then be called “artisanal”, as opposed to “artificial” insemination, i.e. say medicalized). In both cases, the practice is illegal: the Penal Code punishes “carrying out artificial insemination using fresh sperm or a mixture of donated sperm” with two years in prison and a fine of 30,000 euros. But some rely on what they consider to be legal vagueness to offer their services. And Superdad is not the only “serial donor”: a Dutchman would have fathered a minimum of… 550 children.
Extract from “Serial donors”, a report to be seen in “Envoyéspecial” on November 28, 2024.
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