A woman who sought a sperm donor through social media to fulfill her desire for motherhood has accused the donor of coercive and abusive behavior. Georgia East, 40, decided to avoid fertility clinics and instead used a Facebook group to directly contact potential donors, hoping for a biological connection for her child.

East identified Peter Lewis, a 40-year-old science graduate with a well-known presence as an online sperm donor, having fathered nearly 50 children. Lewis had spoken publicly about his wish to help women conceive, a reputation that initially reassured East. Despite the unorthodox offer of natural insemination—sexual intercourse—as well as artificial insemination, East agreed to proceed, valuing the possibility of establishing a meaningful relationship with the donor.

However, East's experience with Lewis soon turned troubling. She alleges that, as part of his "donation," Lewis pressured her into oral sex, during which she felt degraded and abused. She describes incidents where Lewis exercised control, including calling her derogatory names and forcing acts that left her feeling powerless. East characterizes Lewis as a "sexual predator" who manipulates women under the guise of sperm donation.

After learning she was pregnant with Lewis’s child in 2022, East discovered that Lewis had admitted to being a carrier of Familial Dysautonomia (FD), a rare and serious genetic disorder affecting the nervous system. Although East herself is not a carrier, the diagnosis raised concerns about the potential health implications for her child, Katie, now two years old. East also faces the psychological challenge of explaining to her daughter the genetic risks and the fact that she potentially has dozens, if not over a hundred, half-siblings due to Lewis’s prolific donation activity.

Lewis is part of a growing group of serial sperm donors who dominate large Facebook communities, offering donated sperm outside of traditional fertility clinics. Some donors in this network have fathered hundreds of children. Among them are individuals like Robert Charles Albon, known as Joe Donor, with about 180 children, and Simon Watson, purported to have sired as many as 800 offspring. Another known figure, Dutch YouTuber Jonathan Jacob Meijer, who fathered over 500 children, was banned from donating after it was revealed he had secretly contributed to multiple clinics.

Advocates such as Eve Wiley, who was donor-conceived, describe these serial donors as seeking psychological gratification by exerting control over women and their offspring, likening the accumulation of children to a trophy collection. Wiley and others argue this pattern of behavior should be recognized legally as a form of reproductive coercion and abuse.

East recounts her initial interactions with Lewis as filled with charm and romance, including discussions of travel and the possibility of a relationship. She acknowledges consenting to certain acts but emphasizes the progression toward aggressive and controlling conduct. She describes Lewis’s insistence on monitoring her ovulation and his preference for sex over artificial insemination as mechanisms for control.

Despite Lewis’s earlier promise to remain involved, he distanced himself after East became pregnant. East later became aware of racist messages Lewis posted in donor groups, further revealing a stark contrast to the benevolent image he portrayed publicly.

East has since dedicated herself to exposing what she views as manipulative and predatory practices within online sperm donation circles. Her experience highlights the risks some women face when pursuing fertility outside regulated medical channels and raises broader concerns about the oversight of social media sperm donor networks.