A sperm donor has been named by a judge in a rare move by the in a bid to protect women considering using him to father their child.

Robert Charles Albon, who calls himself Joe Donor, claims to have fathered more than 180 children all over the from to after advertising online. One couple ended up in the family court with him after Albon demanded parental responsibility despite having only met the child as a newborn for just 10 minutes.

It is extremely rare for a family court judge to publicly name adults in proceedings in a bid to protect the children, but in his judgement, said he wanted to protect women from the possible consequences of unregulated sperm donorship and from using Mr Albon and so named him in the public interest.

Cardiff Family Court heard that Mr Albon, who is in his 50s, was a "stranger" to the child and has only met them for 10 minutes when a few weeks old for a "one-off" photo. The tot was conceived by syringe injection to a same-sex couple, although Mr Albon claimed to have had secret sex with the biological mother in the back of a car. That's a claim rejected by the judge. Albon applied to the court for parental responsibility, to be named on the birth certificate and changes to the child's name.

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Mr Albon wanted the child's non-biological mother to be called "auntie" rather than mother, despite the fact she had acted as a parent from birth. Both mothers said the stress from the legal proceedings – which took more than two years - had been cited as a factor in the break down of their relationship. The court heard the biological mother suffered from anxiety, depression and suicidal thoughts made worse by the case.

The court found Mr Albon, who is originally from the United States but has been living in north-east England, started the family proceedings to support his immigration position to stay in the UK. That is something he denies. Judge Furness made the ruling in 2023, but it can only now be published. He said: "In reality he is a man who seeks to control. Women and children appear to be almost a commodity to him as he sets about increasing the number of his children around the globe – China, USA, Argentina, Australia and UK to name just some of the countries where he has fathered children."

In an interview with The Sun last August, Albon said: "I've had about 180 live births and I've met about 60 of them. I might never see a lot of them, this has to do with the child's mothers relationship… it's my preference to have some sort of relationship."

The judge said he wanted "to protect women from the potential consequences of unregulated sperm donorship, generally, but also from Joe Donor himself". "He is a man who intends to continue donating sperm and vulnerable women who are interested in such services should fully understand the risks of becoming involved with him."

UK regulations say sperm from a single donor used through licensed clinics, may only be used to create a maximum of 10 families.