Where Is Jonathan Meijer, aka The Man With 1000 Kids, Now?

Netflix is at it again with another shocking documentary about a man whose globetrotting activities have landed him in hot water. However, unlike The Tinder Swindler or Bad Surgeon, this person isn't defrauding people for money or professional success. Nope, Jonathan Meijer, the man at the center of The Man With 1000 Kids, is accused of duping people into spreading his seed. 

In the three-part documentary, viewers meet Meijer through a series of YouTube videos that he's posted over the years, some of the families who used him as a sperm donor to conceive, and a lawyer, fertility activist, and medical professional who are working to stop him. 

According to these families, Meijer may be the biological father to more than 1,000 kids, something they didn't realize when they chose him to help them start their families.

Read on for everything you need to know about this strange story and to find out where Jonathan Meijer is now. 

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Who is Jonathan Meijer, The Man With 1000 Kids?

Jonathan Jacob Meijer is a 43-year-old Dutch musician, former teacher, cryptocurrency consultant, and sperm donor who travels the world and shares videos via his YouTube channel. 

In The Man With 1000 Kids, families accuse Meijer of duping them into choosing him as a donor with promises of exclusivity. Those interview subjects claim Meijer was not honest about the total number of donations he's made. 

Meijer began donating sperm back in 2007 and has since traveled around Europe to donate in several countries. Laws dictate that people can only donate sperm for up to 25 children through 12 mothers. However, it's estimated Meijer has fathered more than 600 children across the continent. He has also been linked to children in America, Canada, Russia, Africa, and South America. 

In a video from earlier this year, Meijer said a former classmate struggling to conceive inspired him to begin his donor journey. "These men, they do something without needing something in return," he said. "They spend their time for others. That, to me, felt very noble."

Why are the families in The Man With 1,000 Kids speaking out?

The Netflix doc interviews several families who had personal relationships with Meijer, revealing stories of deceit, false identities, and ghosting. Many of their narratives are the same: They thought they'd hit the jackpot with this smart, charming, and good-looking man who just wanted to help families have children. In some cases, he even described himself as resembling Brad Pitt and Chris Hemsworth.

It was only after the donations that these families put the pieces together and realized Meijer was helping more people than he claimed. They say he did so by working under the table and with clinics to father more and more children. There are even allegations that he used pseudonyms on major donor sites. 

In one of the doc's more shocking moments, a set of parents reveal how they realized friends and family members had all used Meijer, resulting in uncomfortable conversations and even speculation about accidental future incest. 

Throughout the episodes, viewers learn how these families, a fertility expert, and a lawyer worked together to expose Meijer in a 2021 New York Times article. That article exposed some of the man's reported lies and methods, and claimed he falsified information to clinics when registering. 

Is Jonathan Meijer still donating sperm?

The families involved were concerned enough to form a foundation called the Donorkind Foundation. Together, they launched a civil lawsuit against Meijer, which they won.

In April 2023, a Dutch court forbade Meijer from donating more sperm. It also ordered him to inform worldwide clinics that are holding samples from him that they must be destroyed. The only exceptions are parents who already have children through Meijer's donations; they are allowed to use his sperm for future children they are planning. 

If Meijer violates the ban, he faces up to £88,000 per donation.

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What does Jonathan Meijer think about the docuseries?

Since the trailer for the documentary dropped, Meijer has been actively speaking out against it on his YouTube channel. In one post, he addressed viewers from a beach in Zanzibar, saying the 1,000 kids claim is untrue.

"How many donor children have I helped to conceive over the 17 years that I've been a donor?" he asked. "In the last five years, solely as a donor helping siblings, not helping new recipients. My number that I am 100 percent sure of is 550. The number has been growing a little bit but I say 550, this is a round number, it's easy to remember."

In the video, he also claimed that 80 percent of those kids are direct siblings, and the number of families he has helped is only 225.

In another video from Rimini, Italy, Meijer shared his direct thoughts on the doc and called it sensationalized and misleading. He added that he declined to participate in the series because of the reported original title.

"I was right in not participating for myself, personally. They wanted to call it The Fertility Fraudster. That's not a title I can work with; that's not a title I can agree on cooperating with," he said.  

Meijer addressed the trailer in another video, calling the documentary "deceptive" from what he's seen and read. "No surprise to anybody, Netflix is just like any other corporation or company, focused on making revenue." 

Where is Jonathan Meijer now?

It's unclear where Meijer is hanging out in the world since his frequent videos show him all over. One thing is clear, though: As the allegations from the Netflix documentary come out, the man is sure to use his social media platform to tell his side of the story. 

"I want to talk freely; I want to have [a say] in my own story," he added in one video. "I help people, that's it. But I'm more sad that they decided to change the lives of all my donor children… It's not right to sensationalize. They should have asked all the parents and children."

The Man With 1,000 Kids is now streaming on Netflix.