Father of 54 children launched own application

Declan Rooney is a one-man babymaking machine
who is in an astonishing crusade to help women
struggling to have children.
This year alone Declan has notched up 31 births
after setting up an online sperm donation website
last year.
Now he even has a smartphone app offering his
services as a private donor and a free alternative
to clinics.
And with 15 more buns in the oven, he has no
intention of stopping – despite causing uproar
among family campaigners.
Today Declan, 43 – who has eight children of his
own with four different women – hit back at critics
of unregulated sperm donation, insisting in his
case that everything is above board.
Looking exasperated while nursing the result of
one of his donations, Declan said:
“I’m a nice guy. Why can’t people understand
I am just doing this to help out?”
He insists he has not received any money as a
donor apart from petrol expenses to deliver the
sperm to the mother – once, he admits, in a
takeaway coffee cup.
“Egg donors get treated like saints, sperm
donors get treated like back alley, smutty
boys,” says Declan. “But I’m not doing a bad
thing. I’m not ashamed. I have helped
women create families.
And some like what he offers so much, he even
gets repeat business.
“I have seen five of the children in the past
month because I have been donating for
siblings,” he says.

Declan insists he imposes strict conditions on his
services, which includes no sexual contact and
banning women from smoking while they are
trying to conceive. He also checks potential
parents out to make sure they can afford a child.
The former graffiti artist and website designer
decided to start donating sperm in March last
year.
He said:
“There wasn’t a eureka moment. I just felt
as I was in the right place and time of my
life.
“It’s not really on an industrial scale. The
first children were born last December and
will be one this month.
“All of the recipients keep in touch. All the
babies are healthy and happy. I have a
watchful eye. They send me feedback and
tell me how the children are doing.”
He knows that 17 of the 31 children born so far
are boys and 14 are girls. After setting up his
website, the requests soon started rolling in.
“I’ve been inundated from the start. There
were women who had been trying to have a
baby for three or four years so it was very
busy to begin with.
“I have helped people who have been to
clinics where it’s failed, and it has worked
first time with me. There are more babies
born in the UK by private donation than
through private clinics.
Declan usually insists the recipients provide their
own sterile sample kits. He says some of his
clients simply want a baby without involving a
man.
“One was a victim of abuse. She was
desperate to be a mum but adamant she
never wanted a sexual relationship,” he says.
“Another was in her early 40s caring alone
for elderly parents. A sperm donor was her
only way of getting pregnant as she had no
time to meet a man.
Declan’s current partner knows about his
donations and he says she is OK with what he is
doing.
But he adds:
“My eldest child isn’t too happy about it, but
she found out before I was able to tell her.
Two of my children are at university. The
others are too young to understand. I’m a
nice person.”
Two of the women who have had children with
Declan are already trying to get pregnant again.
And five of his donor babies have met each other
because the mums are friends.
He says: “I have got things in place where
everyone knows who everyone is, but privacy is
still respected. I don’t pressurise people into
telling me they are pregnant.
The prolific dad has a three-year-old boy, a two-
year-old daughter and a year-old girl from his
current relationship. He is also aware that
children conceived using donor eggs or sperm can
trace their biological parent once they reach 18, in
the same way as children who are adopted.
One thing Declan is not concerned about is being
stitched up by the mums he vets so carefully.
“I’m not worried about CSA claims because of the
people I’ve chosen to help. It’s all done on trust. I
don’t expect any problems,” he says