BBC Investigation Finds Dead Sperm in Unregulated UK Donor Sample, While Many Report Successful Conceptions Outside Licensed System

A BBC Wales investigation paid £100 for a next-day sperm sample from an online donor who sent it in a box chilled by a frozen carton of tomato passata. A licensed clinic examined the sample four hours after receipt and found all sperm cells were dead. The donor advertised as Joe Donor and was publicly named Robert Albon by a family court judge in Cardiff.

BBC Wales used an alias to arrange the delivery through a couple of emails and a short phone call. Albon did not ask for identity verification or offer health checks, and he charged £100 in cash sent via post for a syringe of sperm. Albon claims to have 180 children conceived through sex and artificial insemination.

He stated that enough sperm for fertilisation usually survives his delivery process and that he has had many successful pregnancies this way. Albon and hundreds of other men have used Facebook to connect with women seeking sperm, with some donor groups reaching up to 40,000 members.

The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority defines unregulated donation as any donation occurring outside HFEA-licensed premises and states it is a criminal offence in the UK when carried out by unlicensed parties.

Clare Ettinghausen, director of strategy and corporate affairs at the HFEA, said the delivery received from Albon was shocking and that without an HFEA licence you cannot process or distribute sperm. Ettinghausen said Meta was facilitating the law being broken and raised the issue at a UK Parliament select committee in March.

Meta said it would review any groups or posts shared with it and remove content which violates its rules.

A National Police Chiefs' Council spokesperson said unregulated sperm donation carries many risks and can exploit the most vulnerable. Tianna and her wife Nikki from south Wales used unregulated donation because they were not eligible for NHS funding and found private treatment too expensive.

They found a donor on a co-parenting website, created a contract regarding contact and parental rights, and now have a one-year-old son.

Tianna said the contract is not a legal contract and there remains a chance the donor could claim parental rights in future. Daniel Bayen, 25, is based in the US but travelled to the UK in the summer of 2025 to donate via artificial insemination, a trip he says resulted in four babies. Bayen claims in online videos to be both the highest paid donor and to work not for profit.

He said he had been offered up to 20,000 US dollars for a donation and that recipients must help cover his health, living expenses, communication, health posting on Instagram, putting information out there, and education. Bayen said he only asked UK clients to cover travel costs.

Bayen stated he does not really care what other people think and cares about what is best for the children and families.

He said that to protect himself as a donor he does not want too many assets under his name and it is OK to not give full name or address. The HFEA has referred several prolific unregulated donors to the police. One woman warned she had received a donation from a man in north Wales who was a convicted sex offender.