TORONTO — Three Ontario families have launched lawsuits against a U.S.-based sperm bank and its Canadian distributor, alleging they were misled about their sperm donor's medical and social history, which included a criminal record and significant mental illness.
The families — all of whom used the same donor — have brought three separate suits against Georgia-based Xytex Corp and Ontario-based Outreach Health Services over the sperm of Donor 9623, who they allege was promoted as a highly educated, healthy and popular donor.
Statements of claim filed in a Newmarket, Ont., court this week allege the donor had in fact been diagnosed with schizophrenia and narcissistic personality disorder, had spent time behind bars for a residential burglary and did not have the degrees he claimed to obtain.
The documents allege Xytex failed to properly investigate the donor's education claims and his medical history, and misrepresented him to customers, including suggesting he had the IQ level of a genius.
"The claims allege Xytex continued to sell the sperm even after it knew the truth about the donor's health, his education and his criminal past," said lawyer James Fireman, who represents the three families. "This kind of specific facts scenario is pretty novel."
The donor is believed to have fathered at least 36 children, the lawsuits allege.
A lawyer for Xytex, however, said the company looks forward to "successfully defending itself" and noted that one of the families involved had already filed a similar lawsuit against the company in the U.S. which had been dismissed.
"Pursuing claims in a court of law requires actual evidence and proof. Making unfounded allegations in the court of public opinion requires no actual proof at all, but merely the word of the very lawyers and litigants who already failed in a court of law," Ted Lavender told The Canadian Press.
"Xytex is an industry leader and complies with all industry standards in how they safely and carefully help provide the gift of children to families who are otherwise unable have them without this assistance."
Outreach Health Services was not immediately available for comment.
The allegations in the lawsuits, which involve families from Port Hope, Ont., Ottawa and Haileybury, Ont., have not been proven in court.
The Port Hope couple — Angela Collins and Margaret Elizabeth Hanson — had filed a lawsuit against Xytex, its parent company, sperm bank employees and the donor last year.
The case was dismissed by a judge who said that while the lawsuit claimed fraud, negligence and product liability, it is "rooted in the concept of wrongful birth," which isn't recognized under Georgia law.
The couple is the only one named in the latest trio of lawsuits filed in Ontario.
Their statement of claim says the donor, James Christian Aggeles, by his own admission, lied about his mental health history and his education — which included a claim about working towards a PhD in neuroscience engineering — when he filled out a Xytex questionnaire, but was never questioned by anyone at Xytex.
"Instead of conducting an actual investigation into the claims made by Aggeles, Xytex promoted Donor #i9623 as one of their best donors," the document said. "Xytex promoted Aggeles as a man of high integrity who was extremely intelligent and incredibly educated."
Xytex continued to try and sell Aggeles' sperm even after his arrest history and mental illness came to light, the statement of claim alleges.
"The Xytex Corporation has admitted no wrongdoing, it has done absolutely nothing to warn affected parents that schizophrenia may develop in their children," it said.
The families are each seeking millions in damages.
