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May 23, 2014 11:51 AM Subscribe
From the BBC. Ed Houben from the Netherlands helps couples of all kinds have the children they desire. The catch? No catch! No contracts! He helps them the good old fashioned way, and relies on good faith to protect himself against future claims for financial assistance.
Ed helps these couples (lesbian, single and married) conceive children. Couples who have experienced up to 15 years of infertility have surprisingly found themselves able to conceive children in only a few visits thanks to Ed's help. He keeps a record of all the children (to prevent accidental intermixing in the future) and does not require a contract from the women or couples whom he helps.
From Ed's website:
"If people can convince me, that I would feel well with them if I were their child, I am happy to help them with the sperm cell they need."
Ed has helped create 98 children to date.
Ed helps these couples (lesbian, single and married) conceive children. Couples who have experienced up to 15 years of infertility have surprisingly found themselves able to conceive children in only a few visits thanks to Ed's help. He keeps a record of all the children (to prevent accidental intermixing in the future) and does not require a contract from the women or couples whom he helps.
From Ed's website:
"If people can convince me, that I would feel well with them if I were their child, I am happy to help them with the sperm cell they need."
Ed has helped create 98 children to date.
Ed Houben wants a family of his own - but would miss his dalliances
Hmm ...
posted by jbickers at 11:59 AM on May 23, 2014
Hmm ...
posted by jbickers at 11:59 AM on May 23, 2014
I wonder if this guy is actually as hyper-fertile as this article implies, or if it's just that most dudes wouldn't be willing to impregnate a random woman (and/or most women won't just sleep with the first dude who says "sure, no condom, great!")
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:01 PM on May 23, 2014
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:01 PM on May 23, 2014
So why all the donation bans?
ANONYMOUS donation bans. Presumably to avoid accidental sibling hookups.
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:02 PM on May 23, 2014
ANONYMOUS donation bans. Presumably to avoid accidental sibling hookups.
posted by showbiz_liz at 12:02 PM on May 23, 2014
Wasn't there a chapter in "The Filth" about this guy?
posted by Ipsifendus at 12:03 PM on May 23, 2014 [4 favorites]
posted by Ipsifendus at 12:03 PM on May 23, 2014 [4 favorites]
I wonder if this guy is actually as hyper-fertile as this article implies, or if it's just that most dudes wouldn't be willing to impregnate a random woman.
I was wondering this as well. It sounds like he's had good results with many couples who have remained infertile for years, but I do remember a study showing that a woman is more likely to conceive with an affair partner than her husband (more chance of her climax har har). I suppose there are things they could study about him in particular to see if he's fertile++.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 12:04 PM on May 23, 2014
I was wondering this as well. It sounds like he's had good results with many couples who have remained infertile for years, but I do remember a study showing that a woman is more likely to conceive with an affair partner than her husband (more chance of her climax har har). I suppose there are things they could study about him in particular to see if he's fertile++.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 12:04 PM on May 23, 2014
I can't help but wonder about the actual, er, enviro-mechanics of this. Is it dinner and wine and candlelight and foreplay and positions? Or some kind of wham-bam thank you Ma'am in a clinical space?
posted by CrowGoat at 12:12 PM on May 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by CrowGoat at 12:12 PM on May 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
He helps them the good old fashioned way, and relies on good faith to protect himself against future claims for financial assistance.
Lol.
Hey he's in the Netherlands, not the United States.
posted by gyc at 12:39 PM on May 23, 2014 [7 favorites]
Lol.
Hey he's in the Netherlands, not the United States.
posted by gyc at 12:39 PM on May 23, 2014 [7 favorites]
What a stud.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 12:51 PM on May 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 12:51 PM on May 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
He helps them the good old fashioned way, and relies on good faith to protect himself against future claims for financial assistance.
I imagine good faith works a bit better in places with an intact social contract and all.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 12:53 PM on May 23, 2014 [9 favorites]
I imagine good faith works a bit better in places with an intact social contract and all.
posted by Slarty Bartfast at 12:53 PM on May 23, 2014 [9 favorites]
Ed Houben: He puts the feck in fecund.
posted by inturnaround at 12:55 PM on May 23, 2014
posted by inturnaround at 12:55 PM on May 23, 2014
Ed has helped create 98 children to date.
Through what boils down to parts and labor, basically.
posted by Wolfdog at 1:01 PM on May 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
Through what boils down to parts and labor, basically.
posted by Wolfdog at 1:01 PM on May 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
> Hey he's in the Netherlands, not the United States.
Well he's far exceeded the limits of his juristiction so he can expect his door kicking down and his sperm confiscated some time soon.
posted by vbfg at 1:02 PM on May 23, 2014
Well he's far exceeded the limits of his juristiction so he can expect his door kicking down and his sperm confiscated some time soon.
posted by vbfg at 1:02 PM on May 23, 2014
I guess it can be done online these days, since the internet is a series of tubes.
posted by KokuRyu at 1:16 PM on May 23, 2014 [3 favorites]
posted by KokuRyu at 1:16 PM on May 23, 2014 [3 favorites]
He helps them the good old fashioned way, and relies on good faith to protect himself against future claims for financial assistance.
Lol.
He's also right, in that he can't protect himself from child support claims via contract (that's the law in Ontario, and I expect most modern states). So he can either hope to trick the women into assuming that the contract means something, or be honest and use his judgement. So good for him on not lying.
posted by Lemurrhea at 1:37 PM on May 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
Lol.
He's also right, in that he can't protect himself from child support claims via contract (that's the law in Ontario, and I expect most modern states). So he can either hope to trick the women into assuming that the contract means something, or be honest and use his judgement. So good for him on not lying.
posted by Lemurrhea at 1:37 PM on May 23, 2014 [1 favorite]
Even better, from his website:
Early in 2002 I read about shortages in donor semen in the Netherlands and was astonished to hear, that clinics decided to prioritize heterosexual couples. They seemed to consider the presence of a father as more important then the actual capabilities of one or two women, so lesbian couples and single mothers were put at the end of some of the growing waiting lists and completely off some others. To me, this was an injustice and I visited a lesbian child wish website the same day. There I got into a contact for the first time and a few months later the first pregnancy was realized through home insemination.
No snark, just good on ya, man.
posted by Lemurrhea at 1:39 PM on May 23, 2014 [9 favorites]
Early in 2002 I read about shortages in donor semen in the Netherlands and was astonished to hear, that clinics decided to prioritize heterosexual couples. They seemed to consider the presence of a father as more important then the actual capabilities of one or two women, so lesbian couples and single mothers were put at the end of some of the growing waiting lists and completely off some others. To me, this was an injustice and I visited a lesbian child wish website the same day. There I got into a contact for the first time and a few months later the first pregnancy was realized through home insemination.
No snark, just good on ya, man.
posted by Lemurrhea at 1:39 PM on May 23, 2014 [9 favorites]
I can't help but wonder about the actual, er, enviro-mechanics of this. Is it dinner and wine and candlelight and foreplay and positions? Or some kind of wham-bam thank you Ma'am in a clinical space?
I would like to read your OKCupid profile.
"I enjoy fertility positive enviro-mechanical behaviours such as digestion, inebriation and combustion observation (possibly ambulation in intertidal regions with lunar reflected solar radiation) followed by digital and/or oral stimulation and gymnastic and/or acrobatic copulation"
posted by srboisvert at 1:52 PM on May 23, 2014 [9 favorites]
I would like to read your OKCupid profile.
"I enjoy fertility positive enviro-mechanical behaviours such as digestion, inebriation and combustion observation (possibly ambulation in intertidal regions with lunar reflected solar radiation) followed by digital and/or oral stimulation and gymnastic and/or acrobatic copulation"
posted by srboisvert at 1:52 PM on May 23, 2014 [9 favorites]
As long as he doesn't try that in Kansas or most US states for that matter.
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 1:55 PM on May 23, 2014
posted by MiltonRandKalman at 1:55 PM on May 23, 2014
Not sure if this turned up on MetaFilter, but the province of British Columbia now recognizes three people on a child's birth certificate. It's pretty cool.
posted by KokuRyu at 2:42 PM on May 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
posted by KokuRyu at 2:42 PM on May 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
ANONYMOUS donation bans. Presumably to avoid accidental sibling hookups.
No, it isn't. It's a recognition of the rights of the child. It's the same reason closed adoptions are no longer legal.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:44 PM on May 23, 2014
No, it isn't. It's a recognition of the rights of the child. It's the same reason closed adoptions are no longer legal.
posted by DarlingBri at 2:44 PM on May 23, 2014
So.... people want to have this guys baby?
I'm pretty sure they just want to have their own baby but they're willing to compromise on half the genes.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:10 PM on May 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
I'm pretty sure they just want to have their own baby but they're willing to compromise on half the genes.
posted by Tell Me No Lies at 3:10 PM on May 23, 2014 [2 favorites]
Locally, if a woman becomes pregnant while married, the child is presumed to be the child of the marriage. MD had a case a few years back when a paramour sought paternity and parental rights, and was denied. I may have lost track of the appeal, but this looks better for him with married couples, likely including same-sex marriages, when discussing child support.
posted by childofTethys at 4:41 PM on May 23, 2014
posted by childofTethys at 4:41 PM on May 23, 2014
I saw the note on the one Kansas case. I'd be shocked if KS was less conservative than MD on presumed-child-of-the-marriage. With certain facts, the KS case appeal could set some interesting precedents.
posted by childofTethys at 4:53 PM on May 23, 2014
posted by childofTethys at 4:53 PM on May 23, 2014
Trent Arsenault comes to mind as the US's version, though he either got shut down or went underground.
posted by vegartanipla at 6:50 PM on May 23, 2014
posted by vegartanipla at 6:50 PM on May 23, 2014
Looks like a lot of his X-wings hit the Death Star no problem
posted by Renoroc at 7:25 PM on May 23, 2014
posted by Renoroc at 7:25 PM on May 23, 2014
The Force is strong with this one.
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 3:34 AM on May 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
posted by Pirate-Bartender-Zombie-Monkey at 3:34 AM on May 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
rights of the child
I have reservations about policies banning anonymous paternity: it's a complex issue. I observe that people who want to find out their parents' identity are an existing lobby group, while there is no such lobby group of people who do not exist because the lack of anonymous paternity, or who are unaware that their paternity is not what they think it is.
I think perhaps this should have been left to the vagaries of human relationships and personal judgements rather than being brought into the law.
posted by alasdair at 4:35 AM on May 24, 2014
I have reservations about policies banning anonymous paternity: it's a complex issue. I observe that people who want to find out their parents' identity are an existing lobby group, while there is no such lobby group of people who do not exist because the lack of anonymous paternity, or who are unaware that their paternity is not what they think it is.
I think perhaps this should have been left to the vagaries of human relationships and personal judgements rather than being brought into the law.
posted by alasdair at 4:35 AM on May 24, 2014
So.... people want to have this guys baby?
He's not a pin-up that's for sure, but he looks like a sweet person and his interview is surprisingly even, thoughtful, caring and open-hearted. If temperament is at all inherited (and if I was in need of that help) then I'd do it without a 2nd thought.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 8:30 AM on May 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
He's not a pin-up that's for sure, but he looks like a sweet person and his interview is surprisingly even, thoughtful, caring and open-hearted. If temperament is at all inherited (and if I was in need of that help) then I'd do it without a 2nd thought.
posted by St. Peepsburg at 8:30 AM on May 24, 2014 [1 favorite]
So.... people want to have this guys baby?
I'm not sure if you're saying that only people of above-average attractiveness should be viable candidates for breeding, or if you are saying something else I'm not understanding.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:53 AM on May 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
I'm not sure if you're saying that only people of above-average attractiveness should be viable candidates for breeding, or if you are saying something else I'm not understanding.
posted by DarlingBri at 10:53 AM on May 24, 2014 [2 favorites]
Lemurrhea: "He's also right, in that he can't protect himself from child support claims via contract (that's the law in Ontario, and I expect most modern states). So he can either hope to trick the women into assuming that the contract means something, or be honest and use his judgement."
They were talking about this on CBC this week and in some states at least you can contract out of responsibility. I think they specifically mentioned California as having or soon will have this enacted in law.
posted by Mitheral at 1:31 AM on May 25, 2014 [1 favorite]
They were talking about this on CBC this week and in some states at least you can contract out of responsibility. I think they specifically mentioned California as having or soon will have this enacted in law.
posted by Mitheral at 1:31 AM on May 25, 2014 [1 favorite]
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