Donor embroiled in Canadian lawsuit confesses he lied to sperm bank

Chris Aggeles, otherwise known as donor 9623, has admitted to Georgia police that he lied to Xytex, a Georgia-based sperm bank, about his background. 

• Related: Sperm donor 9623 seemed perfect. It was a complete lie.

Aggeles suffers from several severe mental illnesses, including schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. He dropped out of college and has spent time in jail. His profile on Xytex's website said he was in perfect health, spoke five languages and was getting a PhD in neuroscience. 

Aggeles went on to provide sperm that resulted in at least thirty-six children, including the son of Angie Collins in Port Hope, Ontario. 

A number of those families are suing Xytex, alleging the company failed to properly investigate their donors claims. As It Happens guest host Dave Seglins spoke to Nancy Hersh, the lawyer representing Collins and eight other families. 

Dave Seglins: Ms. Hersh, your clients already knew through a quick Google search that their sperm donor wasn't who he said he was. So why do you think he confessed to police last week?

Nancy Hersh: I believe he has been suffering from the guilt that would likely accompany any decent person after he was confronted with the results of his lies. I feel personally that Xytex took advantage of him as well because he is mentally ill. 

DS: Do you think this comes to any comfort to your clients, whose children were born using Mr. Aggeles sperm? 

NH: The difference that it makes, I think, is that it makes Xytex look even worse than they already do. They knew about this information and had it from us in 2014, yet they continued to say that it wasn't true and in as late as January of this year, they advised one of my clients, who had his some of his sperm, to go ahead and use it, that these were unsubstantiated allegations, and they continued to perpetrate the lie. 

Related: Sperm donor at heart of Canadian lawsuits admits he lied to company Xytex

DS: How is all this uncertainty about the future and the future health of these children affected your clients?

NH: They worry, they watch. I'm sure they watch their children more closely and worry about everything they do more than the average parent. They worry about their future, 10 to 15 per cent of these children will be psychotic and we don't know who. If you have a psychotic child, you worry about how they're going to be cared for, what schools they can go to. They worry all the time.