Case No. EWFC-50

5.In the last four years JM has acted as a sperm donor through private arrangements in a large number of cases. He told the court that he was the father of 15 children, all aged between nearly four and a few months old. Four of those children are concerned in the proceedings before me. At the end of the hearing Ms Robertson produced for the Court and for the Guardian a list of the children of whom JM was the biological father. The most recent was born in February 2022.6.JM is 37 years old. He suffers from Fragile X syndrome, a genetic condition that causes a range of developmental problems including learning difficulties and cognitive impairment. Fragile X is an inheritable condition. JM placed an advert as a potential sperm donor on a social media page for lesbian women seeking sperm donors, which is how he made contact with the mothers in this case. He says that he first acted as a sperm donor to help a friend. 7.EG (the mother of N) is 26, SW (the mother of R and P) is 25 and KE (the mother of B) is 24. They were all therefore in their early 20s when they first came into contact with JM. All the mothers are, or have been, in lesbian relationships.8.SW and her then partner EG were keen to have a baby and made contact with JM via the social media page. When JM and SW agreed for him to act as a sperm donor, SW, EG and JM signed a written agreement given to them by JM. This agreement was provided to JM by a friend, who he says is a lawyer. The agreement is a closely spaced three page document in highly legalistic language which is difficult to read even for a lawyer. It does state clearly on page one that JM will have no rights over the child and no right to contact with the child. 9.On page 3 of the agreement it is recorded that JM has Fragile X syndrome, however there is no explanation of what this means. SW said that she has difficulty reading, which was clear from her oral evidence. She said that she did not read that far into the agreement and therefore did not read the part about Fragile X. EG said that she did read more of the agreement but either did not see or did not appreciate the significance of the reference to Fragile X Syndrome. 10.R was born in October 2018. About two weeks after the birth, SW contacted JM and asked if he would like to see the baby, which he then did. By about February 2019 SW and EG’s relationship was in difficulty and SW again contacted JM to ask if he wanted to see R. There is a dispute over how often JM saw R over the next 16 months and the terms of that contact.11.SW said she suggested contact to JM because she wanted him to agree that EG would have full parental rights and she thought if JM had contact he was more likely to agree to that. It appeared from both her and EG’s evidence that they had an extremely confused understanding about the law on parental rights over a child in this situation and believed that somehow JM could “give” EG his rights.12.Whatever the confused legal understanding, in my view, although this might have been part of the motivation for initiating contact, the dates of that contact, which continue past the date SW and EG had unequivocally split up, indicate that SW was also suggesting contact for her own reasons. I will return to this issue below. 13.JM says he saw R regularly, initially about once a month and then by summer 2019 about once a week. He says that he would either see her with SW or EG, or he would take her round to his parents’ house where he lived. His mother, Mrs M, who gave evidence, said that R came round regularly through this period. By October, R was staying overnight with JM at his parents’ house. I have seen a series of text messages which show that R stayed overnight with JM on at least seven occasions, for a total of about 10 nights. 14.There are a number of texts which indicate that SW was asking JM for money, which he was giving her. JM says that in total he gave SW about £7000 which he expected to be repaid. SW accepted in cross examination that JM had given her some money but denied it was anything like £7000 and said she had repaid some of the money. 15.In early 2020 SW and her new partner JC decided that they wanted to have another child and asked JM to be the sperm donor. He says that he agreed, but this time on the basis that he would have contact with the child. SW denies this, however there is no written agreement in respect of this pregnancy.16.SW became pregnant in early 2020. According to JM he was regularly going round to SW’s house and during the first lockdown he lived there for some of the time between March and June 2020. During this period he necessarily had considerable contact with R. He says that SW told him that she had aborted the baby. She denies this and said that JM knew she continued to be pregnant.17.At a date in June, but it is not clear precisely when, SW asked JM to leave. She says that this was because she became concerned about his behaviour. She referred to JM making sexual comments to her, suggesting she leave JC for him, and rubbing his erection against her. JM denies all these allegations. SW also says she found JM showering with R on at least two occasions, which she considered to be totally inappropriate. Whatever the precise detail of what happened during this period it is clear that any friendship between SW and JM completely broke down. She says that his behaviour was very weird, and she became very uncomfortable with him being around. 18.JM did agree to leave the property, however there was a serious incident on 25 June 2020 at SW’s house. According to SW this was the same day that JM had left the property and he returned later the same day. JM’s version of events is that he went round to SW’s house to retrieve some of his possessions including two mobile phones which he had given to SW. He says that SW had been exploiting him for money and he had lent or given her about £7000, which she was refusing to pay back. 19.When he went round to the house, he says that SW came out and swore at him. She then grabbed him and pushed him into the house. SW, JC and a male friend assaulted JM, and he denies assaulting or harming any of them. He says that he suspects that the injuries on SW were as a result of “playfighting” between SW and JC. 20.SW’s version of this incident is very different. She says that JM came round to the house and banged on the door and the windows. She was inside with JC and two friends and a number of young children. She went out to speak to him and he then forced his way into the house. He attacked SW and left her with bruises on her throat and back. A friend of SW who was in the house with his wife and children then physically restrained JM. SW called the police and JM was arrested. On both versions there were a number of young children in the house, including R. There are police photos that show bruising on SW’s neck and back and a bruise on JC’s leg and hands. 21.JM has had no contact with R since that date. He has never met P, who was born in December 2020. R is now 3 years old. There are significant concerns about her development as she is still not verbal and is behaviourally challenging. R has been referred to the Speech and Language Service but is awaiting an appointment. 22.EG was SW’s partner when L was born. When she and SW split up, she formed a new relationship and they decided to have a baby and asked JM to be the sperm donor. EG has a medical condition which makes it difficult for her to become pregnant. She had previously tried to conceive with a different donor. 23.There was no written agreement. EG said that she asked JM for a written agreement that would confirm that he would have no contact with the child. She said that when they discussed him being a sperm donor for her, she was absolutely clear that he would have no contact with the baby, which he accepted. However, when she asked him for a written agreement, he kept making excuses such as the printer had run out of ink. She said that she was so desperate to have a baby that she went ahead with JM as the donor even though there was no written agreement. 24.There was an issue during the pregnancy when EG’s midwife said she needed to give the blood group of the father. EG said JM initially refused to co-operate, but JM strenuously denied this. It is not necessary that I make any finding on this matter. 25.N was born in January 2021. JM has had no contact with N. 26.On 29 March 2021 JM applied for a CAO and PRO in respect of R and P. On 2 June 2021 he made the same applications in respect of N.27.The position in respect of KE is rather different. I will not set this out in any detail given that I cannot reach any conclusions on the facts of her case or make final orders at this stage of the proceedings. However, the undisputed evidence is of some relevance to the determination in the other two cases. KE contacted JM as a sperm donor via the social media page. There was no written agreement between KE and JM. B was born in July 2018. In September 2018 JM and KE commenced a relationship. JM had contact with B throughout 2019. 28.On 27 February 2019 KE applied for a non-molestation order against JM. On 22 March DJ Daniel at Sheffield Family Court made the order, forbidding JM to contact KE directly or indirectly save for the purposes of arranging for him spending time with B. JM did not contest the making of the order on the basis of the allegations not being accepted. The District Judge made no findings in respect of the allegations. 29.On 30 October 2019 JM applied for a CAO for him to have contact with B and a PRO. On 12 March 2021 DJ Heppel made a CAO giving JM contact once per week, and overnight contact every second weekend, half the holidays and alternate Christmas. The order also granted JM parental responsibility. 30.KE alleges that since March 2021 JM has been harassing, controlling and pestering her, and has made the application to vary the CAO. KE’s position has changed in respect of contact at various points. In January 2022 KE suspended contact between JM and B. JM alleges that KE has breached the order and has applied for the enforcement of the CAO. 31.On 6 December 2021 KE made a fresh application for a non-molestation order. An order was made without notice on 7 December, and a return date is set for a two day hearing. However, the matter was then listed together with the other two cases before me. 32.It is relevant that JM’s contact with B has been observed by Mr Donuhue, who was the Guardian in that case. He found the contact was positive and had no concerns about JM’s behaviour. The current Guardian, Ms Vine, has not observed JM with any of the children. 33.On 24 January 2022 B’s case was reopened to Sheffield Social Care as KE informed the social worker that B had unexplained bruises when he returned from contact with JM. Neither KE or JM could not explain the bruises. B had a medical examination and one of the bruises, to the inner ear, was thought to be non-accidental. Sheffield commenced a s.47 investigation, which so far has held that the risks were substantiated but B was not deemed at risk of significant harm. On 4 April KE contacted Sheffield again to tell them B had returned from contact with two small bruises on the small of his back. Again, the child protection medical concluded these were not accidental. 34.Given that Sheffield Children’s Services are currently considering the matter, I decided to adjourn KE’s case until the relevant report had been drawn up.