Ari Nagel

{{Short description|American mathematician and sperm donor}} {{Use American English|date=July 2022}} {{Use mdy dates|date=July 2022}} {{Infobox academic | honorific_prefix =  | name = Ari Nagel | honorific_suffix = | image = Ari Nagel Spermworld screening.png | birth_name =  | birth_date = {{Birth based on age as of date |45|2021|Feb|1}}<ref name="NYT2021"/> | birth_place = Monsey, New York, U.S. | nationality =  | citizenship =  | other_names = | occupation = Mathematics professor | known_for = Prolific sperm donor | children = 180+ | education = | discipline = Mathematics and computer science | sub_discipline =  | workplaces = Kingsborough Community College }}

'''Ari Nagel''' ({{Birth based on age as of date |45|2021|Feb|1|noage=1}}<ref name="NYT2021"/>) is an American mathematics professor and a sperm donor<ref name="NYT2021">{{cite news |last1=Mroz |first1=Jacqueline |title=The Case of the Serial Sperm Donor |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/01/health/sperm-donor-fertility-meijer.html |work=The New York Times |date=February 1, 2021 |access-date=July 28, 2022}}</ref> who has fathered more than 165 children {{as of|2024|06|lc=y}}.<ref name="TimesOfIsraelBabyDaddy">{{cite news |last=Worrell |first=Georgia |date=June 15, 2024 |title=The Sperminator welcomes 165th child just before Father's Day |url=https://nypost.com/2024/06/15/us-news/sperminator-ari-nagel-welcomes-165th-child-ahead-of-fathers-day/ |access-date=June 15, 2024 |work=New York Post}}</ref> He has been nicknamed the '''Sperminator'''<ref name="Esquire2021"/> or the '''Target Donor''', after the American retail corporation in whose stores some of his artificial-insemination donations were performed.<ref name="NYT2021"/>

==Early life== Ari Nagel was born to an Orthodox Jewish family in Monsey, New York, as the fifth of seven children. He spent his childhood in Monsey, attending school at Yeshiva of Spring Valley and Yeshiva Shaarei Torah,<ref name=":2">{{Cite web |last=Rashty |first=Sandy |title=Meet the American Jew with almost as many children as Abraham |url=https://www.jewishnews.co.uk/meet-the-israeli-with-almost-as-many-children-as-abraham/ |date=December 9, 2021 |access-date=July 28, 2022}}</ref> and later studied at St. John's University in New York City. Nagel received a large monetary settlement from a motorcycle accident and traveled around the world, after which he became irreligious. He also studied at the London School of Economics.<ref name=":2" /> After returning to New York, he became a professor at the Kingsborough Community College of the City University of New York teaching mathematics and computer science. Nagel's first child was born in 2003 as a result of an unintended pregnancy. He married the mother but they maintained separate apartments.<ref name="Esquire2021">{{cite news |last=Monroe |first=Rachel |author-link=Rachel Monroe |title=Have Sperm, Will Travel |url=https://www.esquire.com/news-politics/a37982793/sperm-donor-shortage-facebook-groups/ |work=Esquire |date=October 20, 2021 |access-date=July 28, 2022}}</ref>

==Sperm donation== When his first son was a toddler, Nagel made his first sperm donation to a lesbian couple who advertised on Craigslist. Shortly thereafter he donated to a single woman he knew, following which he registered in the Known Donor Registry and donated a couple of times a year. In 2016, the ''New York Post'' reported that Nagel had fathered 22 children, nicknaming him the "Sperminator".<ref name="TARB">{{cite news |last1=Klein |first1=Amy |title=Whose Sperm Is This? |url=https://www.tarb.co.il/powder-keg-of-israels-irresponsible-ivf/ |work=Tel Aviv Review of Books |date=2020}}</ref> Shortly after the story was published, the New York State Department of Health sent Nagel a letter informing him that operating an unlicensed sperm bank was illegal, but did not escalate the matter.<ref name="Esquire2021" /> As of 2021, Nagel continued to operate outside of any regulatory framework, and provides sperm donations without formal legal contracts.<ref name="SBS2021" />

Nagel maintains contact with many of the children he has fathered, but does not generally support the children financially. He has been successfully sued by five mothers (of nine children) for child support, and half of his university paycheck is garnished towards these payments.<ref name="Esquire2021" /><ref name="Haaretz2018">{{cite news |last=Efrati |first=Ido |title=Why Is Israel Banning This U.S. Jewish Super Sperm Donor? |url=https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2018-06-17/ty-article/why-is-israel-banning-this-u-s-jewish-super-sperm-donor/0000017f-e65f-dc7e-adff-f6ff5c630000 |work=Haaretz |date=June 17, 2018 |access-date=July 28, 2022}}</ref> Nagel often travels to prospective recipients,<ref name="Esquire2021" /> with the recipients paying for his flight fare, and the sperm is provided free of charge as a donation.<ref name="SBS2021">{{cite news |last=Potaka |first=Elise |title=Meet 'the Sperminator': The prolific donor who has nearly 100 biological children |url=https://www.sbs.com.au/news/dateline/article/meet-the-sperminator-the-prolific-donor-who-has-nearly-100-biological-children/iu890c5b4 |work=SBS News |date=November 1, 2021 |access-date=July 28, 2022}}</ref> Nagel originally made many of his donations with natural insemination, but later switched to artificial insemination, delivering his sperm in a "cup" to protect himself, and the mothers to whom he donates sperm, from the risks of frequent unprotected sex.<ref name=":0">{{cite news |title='Sperminator': Prolific sperm donor Ari Nagel speaks out |url=https://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/sperminator-prolific-sperm-donor-ari-nagel-speaks-out/R3YZGF25HQVBPP7ORS4BPYHEYA/ |work=The New Zealand Herald |date=May 5, 2021 |access-date=July 28, 2022}}</ref> Some of his artificial donations were performed in restrooms of Target department stores,<ref name="Esquire2021" /> leading to the nickname "Target Donor".<ref name="NYT2021" />

In 2017, Nagel deposited sperm with six different sperm banks in Israel.<ref name=":1" /> In 2018, Israeli authorities banned him from donating sperm; his appeal against the decision was rejected by the Supreme Court of Israel.<ref name="Esquire2021" /> The court ruled that it was "doubtful he [Nagel] can function as an actual father" due to the number of his children.<ref name=":1">{{cite news |last=Hacohen |first=Hagay |title=High Court tells serial sperm donor 'enough' |url=https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/high-court-tells-serial-sperm-donor-enough-580540 |work=The Jerusalem Post |date=February 13, 2019 |access-date=July 28, 2022}}</ref> In 2020, Nagel borrowed his brother's passport to donate to an Israeli woman.<ref name="Esquire2021" />

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the pace of Nagel's donations increased as he was teaching remotely, and had a greater ability to travel. Around sixty of the mothers of Nagel's babies formed a private Facebook group and refer to themselves as "Ari's baby mamas".<ref name="Esquire2021" /> {{as of|2020|05}}, he has fathered more than 100 children.<ref name="TimesOfIsraelBabyDaddy" />

In a 2021 interview with ''Esquire'', he repeated his 2017 claim that he was considering retiring from sperm donation to focus on his existing children, and because of the impact of age on sperm quality.<ref name="Esquire2021" />

==Documentaries== His activities as a sperm donor have been portrayed in the documentary films ''The Sperminator'' (2017),<ref>{{cite news |last=Lafata |first=Alexia |title=This Documentary Sheds Light On The Guy Who Gives Women His Sperm To Help Them Get Pregnant |url=https://www.elitedaily.com/news/the-sperminator-documentary-ari-nagel/2073611 |work=Elite Daily |date=September 18, 2017 |access-date=July 28, 2022}}</ref> ''The Baby Daddy'' (2022)<ref name="TimesOfIsraelBabyDaddy"/> and ''Spermworld'' (2024). He was featured in a 2022 episode of This Is Life with Lisa Ling entitled "Got Sperm?".

==References== {{reflist}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Nagel, Ari}} Category:1970s births Category:Year of birth uncertain Category:Living people Category:20th-century American Jews Category:20th-century American mathematicians Category:21st-century American Jews Category:21st-century American mathematicians Category:Jewish American scientists Category:Mathematicians from New York (state) Category:People from Monsey, New York Category:People from New York City Category:Scientists from New York City Category:St. John's University (New York City) alumni Category:Kingsborough Community College faculty Category:Sperm donors