Playback: The Inseminator

The Modern Mann

Matt Hill

Society & Culture, Relationships, Personal Journals

4.8 • 744 Ratings

🗓️ 28 March 2025

⏱️ 49 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Sperm donors are anonymised in British clinics. Recipients don’t even get to see a photo of the man who will father their child. Donor-conceived kids can only discover the identity of their biological father upon reaching adulthood themselves. But Mitch Kennedy is a private donor. His sperm has been used by 23 couples - and he’s met them all. In most cases, he’s slept in their spare room during the conception. He has around 40 children. In this fascinating interview with Olly, Mitch explains the logistics of his bespoke donation process, the legalities of his paternal responsibilities, and the ‘dark cloud’ that deters him from donating to hetrosexual couples... This episode first aired in October 2017 - now remastered and with an update from Mitch, we're replaying this with the news that sperm in the US is now one of their most priciest resources. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hi, Olly Mann here with our monthly playback edition on the last Friday of each month.
0:05.8	We resurface an interview from an older episode of the show, which we think deserves your attention again.
0:11.6	And this month, the subject is sperm donation.
0:15.6	I was reading in the FT that American sperm, anyway, has become one of that country's priciest resources.
0:23.5	By weight, super premium semen now costs more than beluga caviar, representing a tenfold
0:30.1	price rise over the past decade, and the cost is expected to grow at an annual rate of 3.56%
0:36.7	till 2030, apparently. It reminded me of an annual rate of 3.56% till 2030, apparently.
0:39.3	It reminded me of an interview that I did with Mitch Kennedy, a serial sperm donor from Scotland.
0:46.5	I first saw him on telly, actually, on this morning on ITV, where he was billed as one of Britain's
0:52.3	most prolific super sperm donors.
0:55.0	And I thought, I've got to know more about this.
0:57.6	Does he get paid?
0:58.8	Who does he donate to?
0:59.8	What are the logistics?
1:01.1	What's it like fathering more than 40 children?
1:04.7	Well, it was a fascinating conversation back then,
1:07.4	and I think it remained a fascinating conversation seven years later as you're here.
1:11.8	And, coming up, Mitch gets back in touch for an update on his life and how many children
1:17.5	he's now sprung into life. The inseminator. That's this month's modern man playback.
1:23.7	And it all starts next.
1:33.6	So, you want to be a marketer.
1:34.9	It's easy.
	...

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