(Credits: Netflix)

Netflix is no stranger to troubling or controversial documentaries, but The Man With 1000 Kids was a far cry from the streaming service’s usual staple diet of murder and mayhem.

Digging into the shocking true story of Jonathan Jacob Meijer, the three-part series explores the couples and single women who discover their sperm donor was so prolific that he’s fathered up to – and potentially above – a thousand children across multiple continents.

The YouTuber and musician was banned from donating in his native Netherlands after it was discovered he’d fathered hundreds of children from multiple different clinics across the country, not that it prevented him from continuing his quest to sire as many children as possible internationally.

In potentially dangerous real-world ramifications, a fertility expert has expressed concerns that women could be convinced to seek out unofficial sperm donors like Meijer, who faced very little oversight when flouting the restrictions imposed upon him to continue doing so through other channels.

After a group affected by his actions banded together to have him banned from donating, Meijer now faces a €100,000 fine if he breaches the restrictions, even if he claims to have stopped at his own insistence in 2019. Speaking to The Independent, Claire Innes explained how The Man With 1000 Kids could have the opposite effect to the horrified reactions of many viewers.

“I think a lot of women/families will be shocked and put off by the Netflix documentary, but I can also see a world where vulnerable women who are desperate for a child actually learn more about the sketchy routes,” she said. “I know several women who have acquired or purchased sperm through less official channels who are now questioning the intention of their donors and whether their children have siblings that they a) don’t know about and b) can’t trace.”

Due to the prohibitive cost of fertility treatment, Innes is wary of women who can’t afford the process through the usual channels investigating workarounds like the kind that saw Meijer father so many children, which could start a very similar cycle all over again.

“It’s a very worrying situation indeed. The really sad part is that by the time a woman gets to the point of researching donors, she has probably already been through quite a bit of trauma and heartache such as infertility, [and] miscarriages, and there is often a feeling of ‘I’ll try anything,'” Innes suggested. “All she wants is her little baby and it doesn’t occur to her to ask more in-depth questions.”

It’s hypothetical at this stage, but if Innes feels compelled to comment on The Man With 1000 Kids, then it’s clearly carrying some genuine concerns and warning signs.