Joe Donor’s X-rated confession to me exposed sinister...

“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.

Image Credit: The Sun [Man in Adidas tracksuit holding baby car seat with baby inside, giving thumbs up.]

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.

Image Credit: The Sun [A man in scrubs holding a baby.]

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.

Image Credit: The Sun [Man holding a baby scan photo, surrounded by baby gifts.]

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.

Image Credit: The Sun [Man holding a baby scan presentation card.]

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.

Image Credit: The Sun [Man holding ultrasound photo.]

“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.

Image Credit: The Sun [Man with shaved head in black fleece jacket.]

“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.’.

Image Credit: The Sun [Photo of Robert Charles Albon, a sperm donor who claims to have fathered over 180 children.]

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’.

Image Credit: The Sun [Man wearing a black baseball cap and jacket at a train station.]

I’m a red-blooded man so it would be a bit weird if I didn’t enjoy the sex. 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. 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.

Image Credit: The Sun [Martha Cliff, Byline photo]

“This is not anything homophobic or transphobic, simply a discussion of some scientific literature.”. 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.