An academic who claims to have fathered 49 children as a sperm donor has been arrested on suspicion of sexually assaulting women he promised to help become pregnant.
Professor Gennadij Raivich was accused by two women in their twenties, one of whom is believed to be pregnant with his child.
Detectives have since identified a third alleged victim.
Gennadij Raivich
The neuroscientist, an expert on maternal and foetal medicine, is believed to have advertised as a sperm donor online. Raivich, 50, who leads a research group for University College, London, is also thought to have three children with a partner in Germany.
Interviewed in January under a pseudonym, he told a newspaper that he had fathered 49 children by private sperm donations.
To reduce the risk of biologically-related offspring meeting and reproducing, donors can only provide sperm to ten families under British law.
But it is not known whether all the children Raivich claims to have fathered were conceived in this country.
Raivich, using a pseudonym, reportedly said: ‘I think this is just based on moral horror, not that there is much risk offspring will accidentally meet and set up homes with half-siblings. The risks of this are very low. In America there is no restraint on the number of children a donor can father and in the Netherlands it’s 25 per donor.
‘The recipients I’ve helped are aware of the number of women I’ve helped.’
WHY WOMEN GO PRIVATE
Sperm donors in Britain can provide for a maximum of ten families, according to regulator the Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority.
Donors need permission from the HFEA to exceed the limit, but there is no cap on the number of children who can be born to a family using the sperm.
Many women go to clinics where each donation can cost thousands of pounds and it may take more than one attempt to get pregnant. There are no reliable figures on how many turn to private donors instead.
Not all clinics let those seeking donors select sperm on the basis of looks, personality and academic ability. This is another reason why recipients may choose a private donor.
In 2005, sperm donors lost the right to remain anonymous.
Some fear this deters them or encourages them to only agree to private donations, rather than through official channels.
Raivich met women in London and Norfolk through unlicensed donor websites, going by the name of Frank Qalman and advertising his services as an artificial insemination donor.
In his online profile he writes: ‘I am mid-40s... Jewish (Ashkenasi) and married with 3 children of my own, based in London, UK.
‘Lookwise I have black hair and green eyes, but am heterozygote for child blonde hair and blue eyes – approx half the children look that way. I do think children are fun, and enrich life, and so would be happy to donate to a lesbian couple, hetero couple or someone single.
‘I am 165cm/70kg, with black hair and green/brown eyes. I enjoy travel.’
Raivich, who grew up in New Zealand and came to London in 2001, said he offered his services both as a donor and as a doctor as he wanted to give the gift of parenthood.
He added: ‘I am most proud of the donation I made to a woman who had spent £5,000 through an official clinic.
‘It failed so she came to me and I helped her get pregnant for free.’
Raivich, who has been bailed by police, told the paper that being a donor was ‘like a hobby or a charitable act’ and he ‘got satisfaction by helping’. He added: ‘The first couple I helped were lesbians who were desperate for a baby and I helped them get pregnant on their first cycle.
‘They were delighted and I shared their joy.
‘They come to these sites because they can’t afford the substantial cost of getting a donor through a clinic.
‘I never ask for money, only travel expenses.’
The Met Police said it was investigating alleged incidents of sexual assault by penetration in two counties.
A spokesman said: ‘Two women attended Holborn police station on February 28 to allege they had been assaulted between November 2012 and February 2013.
‘A third alleged victim has since been identified by police. A 50-year-old man was arrested on March 1.’