Two Canadian families were mortified when they discovered that the donor sperm they used to have children belonged to a man who was the polar opposite of what an Atlanta-based sperm bank portrayed him to be. The man was characterized as being a genius with an IQ of 160, but further investigation revealed he was a convicted felon suffering from severe mental health issues.
False Representation
According to Vancouver Sun, the families have now filed a lawsuit against the sperm bank and its local fertility clinic for false representation and improper screening. An unnamed couple and a woman only identified by the initials C.C. are currently seeking unspecified special, punitive, aggravated or exemplary damages from Xytex Corporation and Genesis Fertility Centre Inc.
The couple conceived 3 children between 2008 and 2011 using the donor sperm from a certain Donor #9623. Meanwhile, C.C. said she gave birth to her child in 2008 via the same donor. The error was only detected in 2014 when Xytex accidentally emailed Donor #9623's details to one of the donor recipients.
A quick name search on the internet revealed that the donor, which goes by the name of James Christian Aggeles, was not a genius who had amassed a bachelor's degree, a master's degree and was on his way to earning PhD in neuroscience engineering. Instead, he was a convicted felon who has been diagnosed with a drug-induced psychotic disorder, narcissistic personality disorder and schizophrenia.
Genetic Impact
The lawsuit claimed that one of the children is now suffering from serious mood disorders. The couple lamented that due to the misleading characterization, their kids will have a genetic predisposition to schizophrenia and will need extra medical and psychiatric care as they grow older.
Mandatory reported that 3 other families have already sued Xytex earlier this year for its false representation of Donor #9623. As of the moment, only one of the 36 children thought to have been fathered by Aggeles has been reported to be suffering from severe mental health issues.
