Woman Gives Her Child Up For Adoption After Learning Sperm Donor Lied About Ethnicity

A Japanese woman who gave birth by using a sperm donor gave the baby up for adoption after learning the biological father had lied about his ethnicity and academic background. She is now moving forward with a lawsuit of $2.86 million against the man.

The Tokyo resident in her 30s met the sperm donor online and was under the impression that he was a successful Japanese man with a degree from Kyoto University. He agreed to father her the woman’s second child, and they had sex 10 times before the woman got pregnant, according to the New York Post.

The woman, who lives with her husband, gave birth to her firstborn over a decade ago. She decided to approach a sperm donor for her second child after learning about a hereditary disorder her husband could pass on to their child.

After meeting the man in his 20s online, the woman thought she found the right candidate who could father her second child. She was also told that the man was unmarried and was not dating anyone.

In July 2019, after she got pregnant with the sperm donor’s child, the woman discovered that he had misrepresented himself. The man turned out to be Chinese and graduated from some other university instead of the prestigious school she thought he went to.

The man had also lied about his marital status and did, indeed, have a wife, according to Japanese newspaper Tokyo Shimbun. It was too late for the woman to abort the pregnancy by the time the lies unraveled. So after giving birth, the infant was placed under the care of a child welfare facility in Tokyo.

The woman is now suing the sperm donor for emotional distress and said she was forced into having sex with someone who painted a fake picture of his background. She also claimed the man robbed her of her right to choose the father of her second child.

“In Japan, there is no public system or legal system for sperm donation,” said the woman’s lawyer in a press conference Tuesday. The lawyer also said the woman has been suffering sleep disorders because of the entire ordeal.

Her choice of giving up the child for adoption has reportedly received public backlash. She was called “shallow” by one Mizuho Sasaki, an employee at a child welfare facility. “It’s unacceptable to treat the child like an object,” she told VICE World News. “But I think it’s better to leave the kid with someone who can be a good foster parent.”