Republican Politician Leads Secret Life, Donates Sperm to Lesbians

American politician Bill Johnson, who has campaigned against gay marriage, has been donating sperm to New Zealand lesbian couples, reported the New Zealand Herald in a Dec. 11 article.

The Christian Republican, who once ran for governor of Alabama, spent most of last year devoting his time to an earthquake recovery program in Christchurch. During that time he was also searching online to meet women who wanted help getting pregnant.

Johnson used the Internet handle "chchbill" to talk with at least nine women about making donations on various sperm donor registry websites. The politician never informed his wife and children of his actions.

The newspaper reports that three women are currently pregnant and Johnson has donated to three more women just in the past month. In addition, it is believed that he has contacted at least another three women to discuss sperm donations.

The New Zealand fertility medicine community is worried about the number of Johnson's sperm donations. Guidelines recommends that donations are made in the controlled environment of a fertility clinic and that a donor does not provide sperm to more than four families in order to reduce the chances of accidental incest.

In 2009 Johnson ran for Governor of Alabama and in 2010 worked for Ceres Environmental in Haiti to help with earthquake relief efforts. In February, the politician moved to Christchurch, New Zealand, for his job and left his wife and three children, who are from a former relationship, in America.

"I am married to the most beautiful woman in the world," Johnson told the New Zealand Herald. "When I married her I knew we couldn't have any more children. She had a hysterectomy 10 years ago."

"There is nothing my wife would want to give me more in the world than a child of my own."

Johnson's wife is a two-time Mrs. America finalist.

The politician also said he has an urge to become a biological father. When the news outlet asked Johnson if his wife knew he was donating sperm, he said, "She does now."

Johnson previously talked to his wife about wanting to become a sperm donor. They went to counseling shortly after and he said he then came to New Zealand with the intention of donating.

"Every person who is a father and a mother knows why I am doing this," he said. "If life's circumstances had dealt me a different hand I wouldn't be doing this. It is not the hand that life has dealt my wife."

"Reproduction and having children is as basic a human need as eating."

Some of the women to whom he has donated are in same-sex relationships. In Johnson's political past he has opposed and campaigned against gay marriage. He claims he did not know the "relationship status" of the women he donated to and when the New Zealand Herald asked if it mattered that he was donating to lesbian couples he responded, "I'm not going to answer that question."

The United States has its own regulations when it comes to sperm donations. In Washington State, children conceived by donated sperm or eggs are now officially entitled to know the medical histories of their biological father or mother, as well as the donor's identity, unless the donor specifically requested that no identification ever be provided, EDGE reported in a July 25 article.