US sperm bank is getting sued for presenting a mentally ill felon as a healthy donor

[Deleted]

A US sperm bank is getting sued for presenting a mentally ill felon as a healthy donor

He was known as Donor 9623.

http://www.pri.org/stories/2016-04-1...-healthy-donor

Parents were told he was healthy and well-educated. But he was a troubled man with multiple diagnoses of mental illness and a felony conviction. And his sperm is believed to have been used to conceive at least 36 children in Canada, the US and Britain.

Now three Canadian families have launched lawsuits against US sperm bank Xytex and its Ontario distributor, Outreach Health, alleging they were misinformed about their sperm donor.

Families learned the donor’s real identity in 2014, after Xytex, inadvertently and in a breach of confidentiality, included his email address in an email to them.

A Google search brought to light some shocking information about their donor.

They discovered that Donor 9623 was James Christian Aggeles of Georgia. He was diagnosed as having schizophrenia, narcissistic personality disorder, drug-induced psychotic disorder and significant grandiose delusions. Aggeles committed a residential burglary in 2005 and spent eight months in jail. He dropped out of college and just last year graduated with a bachelor’s degree.

However, the families had been told Donor 9623 had an IQ of 160, an undergraduate degree in neuroscience and a master's degree in artificial intelligence — and that he was pursuing a PhD in neuroscience engineering.

They allege that Xytex and Outreach Health continued to promote and sell the donor’s sperm even after the sperm bank had been informed he was nothing like the man advertised on his online profile.

One of the parents involved in the lawsuit is Angie Collins. She has sympathy for the donor.

“My heart goes out to him,” said Collins in an interview with CBC’s "As It Happens" earlier this week. “This can't be easy to deal with. [It was a] poor choice, though, to knowingly donate sperm when you contain genetic material for debilitating illnesses, but he wasn't healthy at the time that he was making these decisions.”

In the US, sperm donors are paid for their services. But in Canada, the Assisted Human Reproduction Act — passed in 2004 — makes it illegal to pay donors. That's one explanation for why Canada is so dependent on its neighbor to the south for sperm.

Xytex’s President Kevin M. O’Brien posted this open letter on the company website. In it he disputes the claim that the company misrepresented the donor:

"In this case, the donor underwent a standard medical exam and provided extensive personal and health information. He reported a good health history and stated in his application that he had no physical or medical impairments," O’Brien states. This information was passed on to the couple, who were clearly informed the representations were reported by the donor and were not verified by Xytex.”

The families are seeking $12 million in damages.

[Adam Jensen]

This is only a problem if his issues were genetic. Are they?

[Underverse]

lol!

The entire idea of sperm banks is kind of leery to me. If you're sterile and you really want kids, have someone you know jack off into a jar for you.

But I might just be bitter because these lunatics are getting an evolutionary advantage through socially condoned institutions.

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This is only a problem if his issues were genetic. Are they?

Multiple diagnoses of mental illness suggest a high risk of genetic or epigenetic involvement. There's no way to be sure either way.

[Barnabas]

That company would've gotten away with it too if they didn't send that family that email.

[Deleted]

don t they do a genetic sequance and that matters more than if guy x poped in place y?
if that guy has sperm that has 60% to become super smart and 10% chance to be schito it shodn t be that deceptive

[Damajin]

There's a funny heavy metal song about sneaking a less than bright fellow into a sperm bank, reminds me of this situation.

[Hooked]

I cant imagine any normal people jerking off into a cup at some doctors office, I bet there are a lot more weirdos than this one guy.