A serial sperm donor, who claims to have fathered more than 180 children globally, has failed in his High Court bid to be declared the legal father of a child conceived after he received a £150 Amazon gift card for his donation.
Robert Albon, an unregulated donor who advertises his services on social media under the moniker "Joe Donor", asserts he has fathered children in countries as far-flung as Argentina and Australia. Originally from the United States, Mr Albon, in his mid-50s, began acting as an unregulated sperm donor in 2013 and moved to England in 2020. He has previously appeared on TV to discuss his 12 years of donations.
Last October, Mr Albon sought a High Court declaration to recognise him as the father of a child, identified only as N, born in 2021. The court heard that N’s mother began a relationship with a cisgender woman in 2019, who later transitioned to male. The mother’s partner researched and identified Mr Albon as a potential donor. He provided an initial donation at the couple’s home for £100, which did not result in pregnancy.
A second donation, for which he was given a £150 Amazon gift card, led to conception. Mr Albon was informed of N’s birth, with the mother making it clear this would be their final contact. The mother’s partner was registered as N’s father on the birth certificate, a declaration Sir Andrew McFarlane noted was false and reported to the police, who "have apparently decided to take no action". The couple separated in 2023.
In his ruling, Sir Andrew McFarlane dismissed Mr Albon’s application, stating it would be "manifestly contrary to public policy" to grant him paternity. He accepted that "if a declaration were made the mother would never know when, or if, Mr Albon might once more step forward and that this would be unsettling for her."
He concluded: "I, therefore, hold that it would be contrary to public policy for Mr Albon to be treated as the father of N by the court granting a declaration of paternity naming him."
Sir Andrew’s judgment drew heavily on findings from a previous case in May last year, where Mr Justice Poole considered arrangements for another child, CA, born in early 2023 after her mother contacted Mr Albon. In that ruling, Mr Justice Poole refused Mr Albon’s bids for increased contact or placement, describing him as a man who "lacks empathy" and "seeks to control others" to get his way. He added: "The evidence before the court shows that Mr Albon will have sex with, or provide his sperm for artificial insemination, to just about anyone who asks."
Sir Andrew noted that Mr Justice Poole’s judgment, which "merits reading in full, is highly critical of Mr Albon, who is described as not being ‘a man troubled by self-doubt’, but being one who leaves personal turmoil in the wake of his intervention in the lives of, often, very vulnerable women."
Based on these findings, Sir Andrew concluded there was "no indication that Mr Albon’s behaviour is governed by any recognised moral principles." He reiterated that "it would be manifestly contrary to public policy to endorse Mr Albon’s activities, and his particular engagement around the conception of N, by making a declaration of parentage in this case."
The judge concluded that the facts of the case were "extreme" and involved sperm donation on a "wholly different scale". Kingsley Napley family law partner Connie Atkinson, who advised the mother, expressed satisfaction with the decision: "Whilst he is the biological father, it would not have been appropriate for him to be able to assert himself as a legal parent or to exercise any of the rights that may flow from that."
