A man who has fathered 22 children with 18 different women said he is simply performing a “selfless act” for women “desperate” to conceive.
Ari Nagel, 40, from New York, US, said he has been “inundated” with requests from women all over the world, since it became known he regularly donates his sperm.
“It started with just two families - a lesbian couple and a single woman,” Nagel explained on ITV’s ‘This Morning’.
“The single woman was 40-something and her biological clock was ticking so she reached out to me for help.”
Nagel explained women choose to ask him to donate sperm instead of using sperm banks to save on the expense, as he doesn’t charge.
He also said his involvement in the child’s life is very much down to the mothers’ requests. Some of the women want their child to be able to meet their father.
“I don’t turn anyone down very often,” he said.
“Sometimes I get women in their late 40s who want to try, so I try, as long as they are willing.”
Speaking about the delivery of his sperm, Nagel said: “It’s up to the mum, some of them want to do it naturally.
“Some of them want to do it in a clinic and others might just request it in a cup and do it themselves.
“I’ve mailed it to someone before, after having it overnight in a cooler.”
Nagel said his involvement in the children’s lives varies greatly.
“We never have a romantic relationship afterwards but we become family in many ways,” he said.
“Sometimes I’m there for the delivery and sometimes on the birth certificate. It’s up to the mum.
“Four of the children I’ve never met, yet some I’ll take on the weekends and see on special occasions.”
Asked how long he’ll carry on for, Nagel added: “I’m 40 years old already and I don’t see myself doing it when I’m 50.
“I don’t have a number, but I’m going to stop in the next few years.”
ITV’s ‘This Morning’ is on weekday mornings from 10.30am.
