Two Quebec men accused of fathering hundreds of kids have been banned from donating sperm in the province while a court case against them unfolds.
Justice Simon Chamberland granted an interlocutory injunction Wednesday against Philippe Normand and his son, Dominik Seelos.
Normand and Seelos have been accused of fathering hundreds of kids through sperm donations in the province and misleading potential parents about the number of children they’ve fathered.
“The number of children conceived through the defendants’ sperm donations far exceeds recommended limits and poses serious risks,” Chamberland wrote in his decision.
“The defendants intend to continue donating sperm during the proceedings. The interlocutory injunction sought must therefore be granted.”
The injunction was brought forward by a woman who is the mother of four children using sperm from Normand and Seelos.
According to her, at the time the agreements leading to the donations were concluded, the defendants made false representations concerning the number of children previously conceived through their sperm donations and undertook to cease donating sperm for third‑party parental projects once certain limits were reached.
Normand allegedly undertook to limit his donations to a maximum of 10 families, except to complete families already begun, and Seelos to a maximum of 25 children, also except to complete families already begun.
Those promises were decisive in the woman’s decision to use their reproductive material, the judgment reads.
The children were conceived between 2009 and 2012, and in 2022 or 2023, she learned Normand is the biological father of Seelos, which she claims the defendants knowingly concealed from her. She also suspected they may have lied to her regarding the number of children resulting from their sperm donations.
She then began communicating with other women who had used their services to find out how many children they may have fathered. On Nov. 6, 2024, she counted 162 children or ongoing pregnancies resulting from Normand’s sperm donations and 451 children or ongoing pregnancies resulting from Seelos’s sperm donations.
She filed her original application – an order permanently prohibiting the defendants from providing their sperm to any person wishing to resort to procreation involving a third‑party contribution – two days later.
The defendants contested the application, saying that while they acknowledge the number of children they fathered greatly exceeds the contractual limits claimed, they deny having undertaken such obligations toward her. The defendants also admitted they have no intention of ceasing their donations, the judgment noted.
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With the interlocutory injunction now in place, Normand and Seelos can’t donate sperm in Quebec until a final judgment is rendered.
Normand, who represented himself, told Global News he was “surprised and sad” at the ruling.
He claimed the woman is making up how many children they have fathered.
“For now, I am shutting down in Quebec, and eventually, what will I do? I’m thinking of my options,” Normand said when asked if he would move elsewhere in Canada to donate sperm.
Two Quebec men accused of fathering hundreds of kids have been banned from donating sperm in the province while a court case against them unfolds.
Justice Simon Chamberland granted an interlocutory injunction Wednesday against Philippe Normand and his son, Dominik Seelos.
Normand and Seelos have been accused of fathering hundreds of kids through sperm donations in the province and misleading potential parents about the number of children they’ve fathered.
“The number of children conceived through the defendants’ sperm donations far exceeds recommended limits and poses serious risks,” Chamberland wrote in his decision.
“The defendants intend to continue donating sperm during the proceedings. The interlocutory injunction sought must therefore be granted.”
The injunction was brought forward by a woman who is the mother of four children using sperm from Normand and Seelos.
According to her, at the time the agreements leading to the donations were concluded, the defendants made false representations concerning the number of children previously conceived through their sperm donations and undertook to cease donating sperm for third‑party parental projects once certain limits were reached.
Normand allegedly undertook to limit his donations to a maximum of 10 families, except to complete families already begun, and Seelos to a maximum of 25 children, also except to complete families already begun.
Those promises were decisive in the woman’s decision to use their reproductive material, the judgment reads.
The children were conceived between 2009 and 2012, and in 2022 or 2023, she learned Normand is the biological father of Seelos, which she claims the defendants knowingly concealed from her. She also suspected they may have lied to her regarding the number of children resulting from their sperm donations.
She then began communicating with other women who had used their services to find out how many children they may have fathered. On Nov. 6, 2024, she counted 162 children or ongoing pregnancies resulting from Normand’s sperm donations and 451 children or ongoing pregnancies resulting from Seelos’s sperm donations.
She filed her original application – an order permanently prohibiting the defendants from providing their sperm to any person wishing to resort to procreation involving a third‑party contribution – two days later.
The defendants contested the application, saying that while they acknowledge the number of children they fathered greatly exceeds the contractual limits claimed, they deny having undertaken such obligations toward her. The defendants also admitted they have no intention of ceasing their donations, the judgment noted.
With the interlocutory injunction now in place, Normand and Seelos can’t donate sperm in Quebec until a final judgment is rendered.
Normand, who represented himself, told Global News he was “surprised and sad” at the ruling.
He claimed the woman is making up how many children they have fathered.
“For now, I am shutting down in Quebec, and eventually, what will I do? I’m thinking of my options,” Normand said when asked if he would move elsewhere in Canada to donate sperm.
Jessica Lelièvre, the woman’s lawyer, disputed what Normand said, adding that fathering hundreds of children comes with consequences.
“If you think of a child, an adolescent who is starting to be interested in intimate relationships and knows that they have hundreds of half-brothers and half-sisters out there, what does that mean for a child trying to develop in relationships, in intimacy?” she said.
