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| Barry Stevens with a photograph of his father Bertold Wiesner |
British Man 600 Children, A British scientist Bertold Wiesner fathered up to 600 children after founding a fertility clinic that promised to provide sperm donors from ‘intelligent stock’, it emerged yesterday.
He was Biologist and supplied sperm to the partners of infertile men from the middle and upper classes, including ‘peers of the realm’.
His wife Mary Barton later destroyed medical records, meaning most of those conceived there – and their thousands of subsequent offspring – have no idea of their true family history and blood ties.
But two men conceived by artificial insemination at the practice, which operated from the early 1940s until the mid-1960s, have completed research suggesting up to two-thirds of sperm donations during that period were by Wiesner.
David Gollancz, one of Wiesner’s biological sons, estimated he would have made 20 donations a year, meaning he is likely to have fathered between 300 and 600 children.
The barrister found out in 1965, at the age of 12, that he was born from a sperm donor, but was never told who his biological father was.
He finally discovered the truth through DNA tests and has subsequently made contact with 11 of his half-siblings, including documentary-maker Barry Stevens, who led research into the clinic. Mr Gollancz said he had mixed feelings about his unusual family history.
He said: ‘It’s rather uncomfortable, because artificial insemination was developed on an industrial scale for cattle and I don’t like the feeling of having been “bred”.
‘But meeting the half siblings that I have tracked down has been a very life-enriching experience. This does make it frustrating too, because I know there are all those other siblings out there who I don’t know but would really like to meet. I’d love to be able to hire a huge marquee and invite them all to a party.’
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