Sperm donor who ‘fathered over 180 youngsters’ loses bid to be declared dad of kid
Robert Albon, an unregulated donor, claims to have fathered 180 children from countries as far away as Australia after offering his services on social media under the name ‘Joe Donor’
Robert Albon claims to have fathered more than 180 children
A sperm donor who claims to have fathered more than 180 children has failed in his High Court bid to be declared the father of a child who was born from his donation in exchange for a £150 Amazon gift card for his donation.
Unregulated donor Robert Albon, who advertises his services on social media under the name “Joe Donor”, claims to have fathered children in countries as far away as Argentina and Australia.
Albon, who is in mid-50s and originally from the United States, started acting as an unregulated sperm donor in 2013 and came to England in 2020.
He has appeared on television and discussed his role, claiming that he has been donating his sperm for some 12 years. In October last year, he asked the High Court in London to declare him the father of a child, known only as N, who was born in 2021.
The court heard that in 2019 that N’s mother began a relationship with a cisgender woman, who about one year into the relationship, started identifying as transgender and later transitioned to the male gender.
According to a judgment published on Tuesday (April 21), the mother’s partner did some research and identified Albon as a possible sperm donor. He attended the couple’s home and provided sperm for which he was paid £100, but this did not result in a pregnancy.
Albon later provided a second donation of sperm, for which he was given a £150 Amazon gift card, the court heard. The second donation resulted in conception and Albon was told when N was born, with the mother clear that this would be their last contact with him.
The mother’s partner was registered as N’s father on the birth certificate, but the couple separated in 2023.
In his ruling, Sir Andrew McFarlane said the false declaration to the registrar was reported to the police who “have apparently decided to take no action”.
In May last year, the family court in Middlesbrough considered arrangements for a girl born in early 2023, known as CA, born after her mother contacted Albon to be a donor.
Ruling in that case, Mr Justice Poole refused Albon’s bids for increased contact or placement and said that he “lacks empathy” and “seeks to control others” to get his way.
He added: “The evidence before the court shows thatAlbon will have sex with, or provide his sperm for artificial insemination, to just about anyone who asks.”
On Tuesday (April 21), Sir Andrew said in his written judgment: “Mr Justice Poole’s judgment, which merits reading in full, is highly critical of Mr Albon, who is described as not being ‘a man troubled by self-doubt’, but being one who leaves personal turmoil in the wake of his intervention in the lives of, often, very vulnerable women.”
He continued: “I accept that if a declaration were made the mother would never know when, or if, Albon might once more step forward and that this would be unsettling for her.
“I, therefore, hold that it would be contrary to public policy for Albon to be treated as the father of N by the court granting a declaration of paternity naming him.”
Sir Andrew also said based on findings made by two previous judges, “there is no indication that Albon’s behaviour is governed by any recognised moral principles”.
He continued: “Taken individually, but also looking at them all together, it is clear that it would be manifestly contrary to public policy to endorse Mr Albon’s activities, and his particular engagement around the conception of N, by making a declaration of parentage in this case.”
The judge said Albon’s application is dismissed “on the ground that to grant it would manifestly be contrary to public policy”.
He also said that it was agreed that the mother’s former partner is not N’s father.
Sir Andrew concluded that the facts of the case were “extreme”, and involved sperm donation on a “wholly different scale”.
Kingsley Napley family law partner Connie Atkinson, who advised the mother in this case, said: “On behalf of our client, we are extremely pleased with the court’s decision not to grant a declaration of parentage in Mr Albon’s favour.
“Whilst he is the biological father, it would not have been appropriate for him to be able to assert himself as a legal parent or to exercise any of the rights that may flow from that.”
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