Three men, a handful of online forums, and a whole lot of awkward DMs. This is the wildest documentary about fatherhood you didn’t know you needed. It starts with a click and ends with a birth certificate.
We ranked this one 6th in The 15 Best Pregnancy Documentaries (Ranked 2025).
Trailer for “SpermWorld”
You Can’t Make This Sh!t Up
- Ari Nagel, a New York math professor, has fathered over 100 kids worldwide. Sometimes dropping off sperm in Target restrooms or hotel rooms, all arranged via Facebook.
- People refer to Ari as “The Sperminator,” and he flies internationally to donate. He’s even been banned from sperm banks due to over-donating.
- The main donation group, Sperm Donation USA, operates openly on Facebook with over 100,000 members. They offer a free alternative to sperm banks, often with zero medical oversight.
Watch “SpermWorld”
You can watch “SpermWorld” on Hulu.
Ratings:
- My Rating: 92/100
- IMDB Rating: 7/10
- Rotten Tomatoes Ratings: 98/100 (Users); 80/100 (Critics)
Director’s Note: Lance Oppenheim once again leans into surreal, intimate filmmaking. He treats sperm donation as a bizarre subculture—with hints of loneliness, longing, and blurred boundaries.
Release Date: May 2024 (Hulu)
My Review of “SpermWorld”
The Setup
“SpermWorld” follows three men navigating the unregulated world of direct-to-recipient sperm donation through Facebook groups like Sperm Donation USA. This isn’t about medical clinics or fertility doctors. It’s DIY conception, coordinated via DMs and delivered in coffee shops, hotels, and sometimes straight to living rooms.
The film doesn’t just follow the donors. It explores the lives of recipients, blurred legal lines, emotional fallout, and the strange intimacy that forms between people trying to make babies without a system in place. If you thought parenthood started with paperwork and insurance, this doc shows you another route.
More Highlights from the Doc
- One woman in the film receives a fresh sample from donor Kyle during their first in-person meeting…while sitting in a living room.
- Tyree Kelly, another donor in the film, sees sperm donation as part philanthropy, part purpose. He believes he’s helping couples who otherwise couldn’t afford sperm bank costs.
- The doc explores how this underground system lacks legal clarity. Some donors have been sued for child support. Others remain in contact with dozens of their children, creating unconventional, sprawling families.
- One woman explains how she preferred this method because it allowed her to meet the donor face-to-face. It adds a personal dimension to a process that’s usually anonymous.
Cameos – Lesser-Known Details from the Doc
- Ari Nagel once flew to the Philippines for a donation trip…and got detained by authorities for violating travel visa rules.
- Some donors request photos of the baby as it grows. Others insist on being part of the child’s life—blurring lines between donor and dad.
- One recipient points out that she uses ovulation test kits and timed donations from multiple donors in a given month to increase her odds.
Wrap Up
“SpermWorld” is funny, awkward, and full of uncomfortable questions about modern family-making. If you think online dating is strange, wait until you see online insemination.
Thanks for reading!
Heather Fenty, Guest Writer, Daily Doc