Joe Donor’s X-rated confession to me exposed sinister truth about ‘sperm bandits’ who see themselves as sex ‘gladiators’
“MAYBE he’ll give you free sperm”, joked my friends when I told them who I was about to interview.
They’re well aware that my fiancée and I will one day be in need of just that if we hope to start a family, but this is a freebie I’d gladly turn down.
Over the past six years of my same-sex relationship, my partner and I have had endless discussions about sperm donors, mainly how expensive they are, with prices easily soaring to over £1,000 for a vial.
However, there is one I wouldn’t touch with a barge pole – no matter how cheap his services are.
Robert Albon, better known to many as Joe Donor, is one of the world’s most prolific ‘private’ sperm donors and is to date one of my most troubling interviewees.
He has fathered over 180 children worldwide either by sending an insemination kit by overnight courier, dropping his donation off or, disturbingly, through sexual intercourse, not charging for any of his services.
US national Albon, who has conceived babies in the UK, Argentina, China and the US, was yesterday named by a judge after using the pseudonym Joe Donor for his services which he advertises on Facebook.
Judge Jonathan Furness KC said it was in the public interest and wished to warn potential mums-to-be against using unauthorised donors – quite rightly so.
Horrifyingly, the 54-year-old had taken a same-sex couple to Cardiff Family Court as he wanted parental rights over their child in what the judge described as a ploy to support his immigration position to stay in the UK.
I can’t begin to imagine the sense of betrayal these two women must feel. To have found a man ‘kind’ enough to help them out of the ‘goodness of his heart’ only for this stranger to later lay claims over their child.
A sperm donor is just that – a donor – and you’d expect to have as much to do with them as someone who donated blood to your life-saving operation.
But it became clear to me from the moment I met him that this is not how Albon, who has been donating for 14 years, sees it.
Sex ‘perks’
Throughout our hour-long conversation last year, he repeatedly referred to his donor babies as his “children”, admitting he had involvement with 60 of them.
“It’s important to me that the children know that, despite their unusual beginnings, they were wanted and I was interested in them,” he told me.
“I think it’s very good for the children to have that kind of attention from their biological parents.
“It would always be my preference to have some sort of relationship (with the child) and even if that’s not possible I would like them to know I would have liked to.”
Of course, of the many families Albon has helped, there will be plenty who won’t want their children to know anything about their biological father.
I wondered if perhaps a contract ever came into play so that boundaries aren’t crossed by either party.
“Some people talk about a contract but because the child can’t be subject to the contract, it can’t be legally binding,” he told me.
“I wouldn’t want that child of mine to read that contract in the future and think ‘you didn’t want me’.”
His obsession with the children’s lineage was troubling but more so was how many of them came into being.
For Albon one of the greatest perks of the job is the ‘natural insemination’ he offers with his schedule including sexual intercourse around ‘once a week.’
He confessed to me that he’s had sex with women while their husbands sit in the next room. You can baulk but he assures me ‘IVF is worse.’
“I’m a red-blooded man so it would be a bit weird if I didn’t enjoy the sex,” he says.
Shaking his hand as he left, I remember feeling extremely grateful that I hadn’t mentioned my own need for a donor one day.
It seems like he would have leapt at the chance to continue pursuing his ‘hobby’.
I’m a red-blooded man so it would be a bit weird if I didn’t enjoy the sex
Joe Donor
Although, according to messages sent by Albon in a donor messaging group, I might not be up to the job anyway.
“Perhaps not all lesbians are horrible parents, but, there is much greater chances of mental illness than in the general population,” he writes in one message uncovered by The Sun.
Nice.
When presented with the message by The Sun, Joe said at the time: “I don’t recall writing that but I do recall a discussion about some scientific literature, in which there were some reports that did say things like this.
“This is not anything homophobic or transphobic, simply a discussion of some scientific literature.”
‘Baby batter’
With Joe seemingly determined to weasel his way into as many children’s lives as possible, as well as promising to bed your wife while erring on the side of homophobia, you’d be forgiven for asking why so many families have invited him into their lives.
However, with mums-to-be expected to pay between £800 and £1,300 for a single vial of semen, his rock-bottom rates could be sorely tempting.
Albon doesn’t charge for his ‘baby batter’ (his words not mine) with families simply expected to pick up the cost of postage or petrol money.
And with many couples (us horrible lesbians included) not able to access fertility treatment on the NHS, for many it’s Joe Donor or no donor.
How 'horror story' unfolded in court
He has now been named by a judge as a warning to potential mums-to-be against using unauthorised donors and Albon himself.
The 54-year-old had taken a couple to Cardiff Family Court as he wanted parental rights over their child.
The baby in the case was conceived by a same-sex couple using a syringe.
Albon had tried to claim he fathered the child by having sex with its biological mum in a car, but this was dismissed by the judge.
He applied for parental responsibility – meaning he would be named on the birth certificate – and to change the child’s name.
Albon also wanted the child’s non-biological mother to be called “auntie” rather than mum.
He claimed he wanted to “protect the welfare” of the child – but was actually being “wholly self-centred”, the ruling said.
Judge Furness said in reality, Albon had used the case to support his immigration position to stay in the UK.
He added: “In reality he is a man who seeks to control.
“Women and children appear to be almost a commodity to him as he sets about increasing the number of his children around the globe – China, USA, Argentina, Australia and UK to name just some of the countries where he has fathered children.”
Both mothers told the court the case had been a “horror story” and caused their relationship to break down.
The biological mum also said she suffered from anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts.
I blame no one for using his services and had I not met the man perhaps I would be perusing his socials as we speak, but at what cost?
Sadly, as a Sun investigation revealed, he is among a growing number of rogue donors.
We found vile messages on donor messaging groups with names like ‘Sperm Bandits’, where one poster brags about his sexual exploits with a lesbian woman after agreeing to help her try for a baby.
And Albon admits sperm donor rivalry means men get upset if they are dropped by a woman for someone else.
“We’re humans,” he says. “It’s almost like these women want us to be out there like gladiators killing each other so they can see us at our best, displaying like peacocks.”
Yesterday’s ruling proves one thing, that Albon’s agenda is very different from the philanthropist father he touts himself as.
While the couple’s baby had been conceived by syringe he tried to claim he had sex with the biological mother in what the judge claims was an attempt to support his immigration status in the UK.
Whatever his reasons, I’m relieved that Robert Albon has been unmasked as the man he really is and the dad he will do anything to be.