Several members of the 9 Park Place Family Team were instructed in the recently published case of A v. B [2023] EWFC 333, whereby the court dealt with a number of applications brought on behalf of the child’s biological father, a well-publicised unregulated sperm donor who uses the pseudonym ‘Joe Donor’, who asserts to have 180 children worldwide.
As part of the Judgment, the court dismissed the sperm donor’s applications for direct contact, Parental Responsibility, a change of the child’s name, inclusion on the child’s birth certificate and a declaration of parentage, observing it was not in the child’s welfare interests to grant any of the applications. The court further commented generally as to the possible consequences of unregulated sperm donorship.
The court also took the unusual step of naming the sperm donor, Robert Charles Albon, on the basis there was public interest in the court’s findings being shared and that vulnerable women seeking to get pregnant via an unregulated sperm donation arrangement should be aware of the risks associated with Mr. Albon (‘Joe Donor’).
Owen Thomas K.C. and Rhys Davies, instructed by Hannah Davies of Rubin Lewis O’Brien Solicitors, represented the child’s biological mother.
Kate Hughes K.C. and Michael Hammett, instructed by Natalie Corten of Watkins and Gunn Solicitors, represented the child’s non-biological mother.
The Judgment has been reported nationally, having been initially reported by the BBC on 11th February 2025: https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c5yer90xpzno
The Judgment can be found at: https://www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWFC/HCJ/2023/333.html