A 38-year-old man has fathered more than two dozen children without ever having sex.
Drew Sollenberger is asexual and has been a sperm donor for 16 years, which has led to 25 successful pregnancies.
The software engineer from Maryland in the United States realised he was aromantic at 22 years old.
Advert
While he experiences little to no romantic or sexual attraction to either sex, Sollenberger has wanted to be a father since he was a teenager.
After his sister had a baby at 18, Sollenberger started volunteering with kids.
"I realised I really loved kids," he told the Daily Mail.
He continued: "My only real complaint was the volunteering I had was more short-term. I'd watch a kid for a day, I'd be involved in this activity, and the kid would move on with their life."
Advert
He then came across the Known Donor Registry, a website connecting families and infertile couples with sperm donors, and also joined the Facebook group Sperm Donation USA.
He now has regular contact with eight of the children he helped conceive, and sees them about once a month.
"I originally wanted a lot of contact [with the children]. I've pulled back on that for a number of reasons," he told the Daily Mail.
"People will just lie to you and say they want contact when they don't. So it's better to tell them, I'll give you what level you want, so that you will tell me what you actually want, rather than me getting up my hopes and then having them dashed over and over."
Advert
Sollenberger previously told ABC's 20/20 that he has no interest in making money from donating his sperm.
"I would love to have a standard, nuclear family. But to do that, I have to get married and I decided that I was not going to get married… I still wanted to have a child," he said.
The software engineer said the children usually refer to him as their uncle or godfather when he visits them.
"Pretty much all the kids call me uncle, except for the two that call me godfather, which is practically the same relationship under a different name," he said.
Advert
"But generally, I'm the uncle. I'm the fun guy who comes and plays with them, usually about once a month.
"Some people have given me permission to visit more often, but I try not to visit more than once a month."
Topics: News, World News