FATHER OF 36
Who is prolific sperm donor Chris Aggeles?
PROSPECTIVE parents using sperm donors to have children will look for outstanding qualities to ensure their kid has the best chance in life.
And to many, was a perfect candidate, professing he was a genius and multilingual - but those claims were false.
2
Who is Chris Aggeles?
Chris Aggeles is a well-known sperm donor who admitted to falsifying questionnaires at sperm banks to make himself seem more appealing.
Having dropped out of college, he began working as a waiter in Georgia, as he hoped to become a drummer one day.
Yet, in a bid to gain extra cash, he donated up to twice a week from 2000 after a roommate noticed an advert in a student newspaper for donating sperm and thought Aggeles would be a good candidate.
But the college dropout, then 23, lied on questionnaires at sperm bank Xytex Corp, telling them he had a degree in neuroscience, a master's in artificial intelligence and was working on a PhD.
He also claimed to speak four languages and hved an IQ of 160 - the level considered to be a genius.
2
He was also told to state if he or any blood relatives had any medical conditions, but did not add schizophrenia - despite being diagnosed with it and committed to a mental institution just a year earlier.
Yet, the lies began to unravel when his identity was discovered in 2014, after it was mistakenly revealed to one of the families of his children by Xytex - and they learnt of his mental health, criminal past and other exaggerations.
Since donating sperm, Aggeles spent eight months in prison after pleading guilty to one count of burglary in 2005 and also threatened to kill himself in 2014, walking into a shooting range and asking to rent a gun to commit suicide.
It wasn't until 2020 that now Aggeles, 43. spoke out in podcast Donor 9623 about the lies, saying: "I hope that the families involved, and particularly the children involved, can find it in their hearts to forgive me.
"I'm sorry for betraying their trust, it was a s***ty thing and I'm not happy about it.
"It was a way for me to provide some stability in my life. It was an honor in a lot of ways, I felt like I was special somehow."
Most read in NEWS
How many kids did he father?
Aggeles was one of the most in-demand sperm donors at Xytex due to his supposed qualifications and incredible bio - fathering 36 kids in total.
And despite his deception, Aggeles still hopes to be introduced to his spawn, saying: "I hope they don't hold a grudge against me.
"I do hope at some point I am able to meet if not all of them at least some of them."
But, since Aggeles's identity was revealed, Xytex have had a number of lawsuits filed against them from parents over the deception.
Topics