A former top Alabama official who campaigned against gay marriage in his failed bid for governor has donated sperm to several lesbian couples in New Zealand while doing earthquake-recovery work, according to The New Zealand Herald.
His wife described the news as "the utmost of betrayal."
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Bill Johnson, 52, who describes himself as a conservative Christian, used an online alias to meet women wanting to get pregnant, the paper says. He said he could not have biological children with his wife, Kathy, who had a hysterectomy before they married in 2004. She has three children from a previous relationship.
The urge to become a biological father was "a need that I have," he told a reporter Thursday who approached him at a Christchurch restaurant, "where he had just finished dining with one of the women he had successfully impregnated."
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Three women are pregnant, and Johnson, a member of the high-IQ club Mensa, "has assisted another three with donations in the past month," the paper writes, adding, "It is believed he has been in communication with at least another three women to discuss sperm donation."
Fertility specialists raised concern about Johnson's liberal donations, pointing out that guidelines recommend that sperm donations be made to no more than four families and that they be done at fertility clinics. The paper explains that the restrictions are "to reduce the chance of accidental incest and to reduce the adverse impact on donors and children if - as the law allows -- they seek each other out later in life."
Johnson said he told his wife of his desire to sire offspring, and they sought counseling. He traveled to Christchurch after the devastating February quake believing she understood he would continue donating.
The Herald on Sunday broke the news to Johnson's wife, Kathy, a two-time Mrs America finalist with three children from a previous relationship. Here's some of what she told the paper:
"My heart is broken. I told Bill when I talked to him this morning after receiving your call that I simply can't talk. I can't even breathe.
"I have no idea what life holds for us in the coming days."
"He knows I am shocked and deeply hurt and even angry. It's not something a wife ever wants to experience. It's very personal and very tragic and we'll have to work through this as a family.
"I just can't believe this could be true. I don't believe he would put the reputation he has earned at risk by acting in such an irresponsible, selfish manner."
From 2003 to 2009, Johnson was director of the Alabama Department of Economic and Community Affairs under Gov. Bob Riley.
USA Today