Fertility fraud
In 2014 when Jacoba Ballard, a daughter of a former patient of Dr. Cline, reviewed the results of her at-home DNA test, she discovered a biological connection to eight previously unknown half-siblings. [lower-alpha 1] Her genetic genealogy research ultimately revealed Cline, her mother's fertility doctor, as her biological father. [7] [8] Cline is now known to have covertly fathered at least 94 offspring. [9]
Investigations and litigation
Ballard filed a complaint with the Attorney General of Indiana who initiated an investigation in 2015. [10] Then Indiana attorney general Tim DeLaney declined to prosecute because "there was no law forbidding Cline’s conduct." [11] Ballard then pursued media coverage. Fox59 anchor Angela Ganote investigated her story. [10] During her investigation, Ganote learned that Cline had lied to the attorney general's office in their investigation. [12] Documents show that he had told investigators, "I can emphatically say that at no time did I ever use my own sample for insemination nor was I a donor." [13]
After a story aired on Fox59, Cline left a voicemail for Ballard contradicting what he had told investigators. "Uh, this is Dr. Cline, You know, I thought I was doing the right thing. I only donated my own sample nine or 10 times," he said. He had placed the call to ask Ballard for help with damage control. "Um, my wife and I, uh, after 57 years of marriage, um, we have had a great deal of problems over this. She considers this adultery. I donated my sample. Gonna lose my wife. Our marriage will be over. Can you help?" [13]
Ganote told DeLaney that Cline was lying to them. [10] Ballard played the audio of the voice mail. The attorney general then conducted an independent DNA test. The results confirmed a 99.9997% probability of paternity. [13] Charges were filed against Cline. In State of Indiana v. Donald Cline, Cline pleaded guilty to two Level 6 felony counts of obstruction of justice and received a one-year suspended sentence. [14]
On November 30, 2016, Elizabeth White and son Matthew White filed a proposed complaint for damages and demand for jury trial with the State of Indiana Department of Insurance. The proposed complaint cites negligence, constructive fraud, battery, breach of contract, breach of express warranty, and negligent hiring or retention as to defendant and reproductive endocrinology associates. [15] They then filed a multi-count complaint in Marion Superior Court. Cline's motion to dismiss was denied. In an interlocutory appeal, a panel of Indiana Court of Appeals affirmed the lower court's decision, finding that "Matthew sufficiently stated breach of contract and tort claims for which relief can be granted." [16]
As of May 2022, Cline had paid out more than $1.35 million to settle three civil lawsuits filed by donor children and families. Three more are pending. [9]
List of Cline court cases
| Case | Type | Court | Date started | Date ended | Disposition |
|---|
| State of Indiana v. Donald L. Cline | Felony 6 | Marion Superior Court 26 | September 9, 2016 | December 14, 2017 | Decided; plea guilty, one-year suspended sentence, fine $500; petition for AMS filed and denied [17] |
| Jacoba Ballard, Deborah Pierce v. Anonymous Health Care Provider, John Doe, M.D. | CT - Civil Tort | Marion Superior Court 3 | October 5, 2016 | January 24, 2022 | Decided; dismissed with prejudice |
| Julie Manes, Dianna Kiesler v. Anonymous Health Care Provider d/b/a Anonymous, John Doe | CT - Civil Tort | Marion Superior Court 5 | January 13, 2017 | January 25, 2022 | Decided; dismissed, with prejudice |
| Donald L. Cline v. State of Indiana | CR - Direct Appeals (Non Capital, Non-LWOP) | Court of Appeals | June 26, 2017 | February 23, 2018 | Closed [16] |
| Elizabeth White, Matthew White v. Anonymous Physician 1, Indianapolis Infertility, Inc. and dba Reproductive Endocrinology Assoc | CT - Civil Tort | Marion Superior Court, Civil Division 4 | December 13, 2016 | | Pending (active) [16] |
Legislation
The Cline fertility fraud and similar doctor-donated sperm cases exposed a lack of legislation specific to infertility patients' and their children's rights. [lower-alpha 2] [19] Ballard lobbied the state of Indiana for change. [20] On May 17, 2019, Indiana became the first state to designate fertility fraud as a Level 6 felony. [21] S.E.A. 174, P.L. 215 became effective July 1, 2019. It reads:
Establishes a cause of action for civil fertility fraud and provides that a prevailing plaintiff may be awarded: (1) compensatory and punitive damages; or (2) liquidated damages of $10,000. Specifies the statute of limitations for civil fertility fraud. Increases the penalty for deception involving the identity of a person or the identity or quantity of property to a Level 6 felony if the offense involves a misrepresentation relating to: (1) a medical procedure, device, or drug; and (2) human reproductive material. Urges the legislative council to assign the topic of fertility laws, including gestational surrogacy, to an appropriate study committee. [22]
States which have enacted legislation: Arizona, Arkansas, California, [23] Colorado, [23] Florida, [23] Indiana, Iowa, [24] Texas, [23] Utah
States proposing legislation: Michigan, Nebraska, [23] New York, [23] Ohio, [25] Kentucky, Oregon, Pennsylvania, Washington
There is no Federal legislation specifically applicable to fertility fraud.
In vitro fertilisation (IVF) is a process of fertilisation where an egg is combined with sperm in vitro. The process involves monitoring and stimulating a woman's ovulatory process, removing an ovum or ova from their ovaries and letting a man's sperm fertilise them in a culture medium in a laboratory. After the fertilised egg (zygote) undergoes embryo culture for 2–6 days, it is transferred by catheter into the uterus, with the intention of establishing a successful pregnancy.
Artificial insemination is the deliberate introduction of sperm into a female's cervix or uterine cavity for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy through in vivo fertilization by means other than sexual intercourse. It is a fertility treatment for humans, and is a common practice in animal breeding, including dairy cattle and pigs.
The Human Fertilisation and Embryology Authority (HFEA) is an executive non-departmental public body of the Department of Health and Social Care in the United Kingdom. It is a statutory body that regulates and inspects all clinics in the United Kingdom providing in vitro fertilisation (IVF), artificial insemination and the storage of human eggs, sperm or embryos. It also regulates human embryo research.
Insemination is the introduction of sperm into a female's reproductive system for the purpose of impregnating, also called fertilizing, the female for sexual reproduction. The sperm is introduced into the uterus of a mammal or the oviduct of an oviparous (egg-laying) animal. In mammals, insemination normally occurs during sexual intercourse or copulation, but insemination can take place in other ways, such as by artificial insemination.
Cecil Byran Jacobson was an American former fertility doctor who used his own sperm to impregnate his patients without informing them.
Assisted reproductive technology (ART) includes medical procedures used primarily to address infertility. This subject involves procedures such as in vitro fertilization (IVF), intracytoplasmic sperm injection (ICSI), cryopreservation of gametes or embryos, and/or the use of fertility medication. When used to address infertility, ART may also be referred to as fertility treatment. ART mainly belongs to the field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility. Some forms of ART may be used with regard to fertile couples for genetic purpose. ART may also be used in surrogacy arrangements, although not all surrogacy arrangements involve ART. The existence of sterility will not always require ART to be the first option to consider, as there are occasions when its cause is a mild disorder that can be solved with more conventional treatments or with behaviors based on promoting health and reproductive habits.
A sperm bank, semen bank, or cryobank is a facility or enterprise which purchases, stores and sells human semen. The semen is produced and sold by men who are known as sperm donors. The sperm is purchased by or for other persons for the purpose of achieving a pregnancy or pregnancies other than by a sexual partner. Sperm sold by a sperm donor is known as donor sperm.
Egg donation is the process by which a woman donates eggs to enable another woman to conceive as part of an assisted reproduction treatment or for biomedical research. For assisted reproduction purposes, egg donation typically involves in vitro fertilization technology, with the eggs being fertilized in the laboratory; more rarely, unfertilized eggs may be frozen and stored for later use. Egg donation is a third-party reproduction as part of assisted reproductive technology.
Fertility preservation is the effort to help cancer patients retain their fertility, or ability to procreate. Research into how cancer, ageing and other health conditions effect reproductive health and preservation options are growing. Specifically sparked in part by the increase in the survival rate of cancer patients.
Sperm donation laws vary by country. Most countries have laws to cover sperm donations which, for example, place limits on how many children a sperm donor may give rise to, or which limit or prohibit the use of donor semen after the donor has died, or payment to sperm donors. Other laws may restrict use of donor sperm for in vitro fertilisation (IVF) treatment, which may itself be banned or restricted in some way, such as to married heterosexual couples, banning such treatment to single women or lesbian couples. Donated sperm may be used for insemination or as part of IVF treatment. Notwithstanding such laws, informal and private sperm donations take place, which are largely unregulated.
Fertility tourism is the practice of traveling to another country or jurisdiction for fertility treatment, and may be regarded as a form of medical tourism. A person who can become pregnant is considered to have fertility issues if they are unable to have a clinical pregnancy after 12 months of unprotected intercourse. Infertility, or the inability to get pregnant, affects about 8-12% of couples looking to conceive or 186 million people globally. In some places, rates of infertility surpass the global average and can go up to 30% depending on the country. Areas with lack of resources, such as assisted reproductive technologies (ARTs), tend to correlate with the highest rates of infertility.
The Suleman octuplets are six male and two female children conceived via in vitro fertilization (IVF) and subsequently born to Nadya Suleman on January 26, 2009, in Bellflower, California. Residing in Lancaster, California, they are the first known octuplets to survive their infancy. The extremely controversial circumstances of their high-order multiple birth have led to debates in the field of assisted reproductive technology and an investigation by the Medical Board of California of the fertility specialist involved in the case.
Sperm donation is the provision by a man of his sperm with the intention that it be used in the artificial insemination or other "fertility treatment" of one or more women who are not his sexual partners in order that they may become pregnant by him. Where pregnancies go to full term, the sperm donor will be the biological father of every baby born from his donations. The man is known as a sperm donor and the sperm he provides is known as "donor sperm" because the intention is that the man will give up all legal rights to any child produced from his sperm, and will not be the legal father. Sperm donation may also be known as "semen donation".
Bernard Norman Barwin is a Canadian physician and medical professor. He was appointed to the Order of Canada in 1997, but resigned the award in 2013 after admitting to professional misconduct.
Forced fatherhood or imposed paternity, occurs when a man becomes a father against his will or without his consent. It can include deception by a partner about her ability to get pregnant or use of contraceptives, birth control sabotage, paternity fraud and sexual assaults of males that result in pregnancy.
Mary Barton was a British obstetrician who, in the 1930s, founded one of the first fertility clinics in England to offer donor insemination. Throughout her career, Barton studied infertility and conception. Her pioneering research and practice were inspired by experience as a medical missionary in India, where she saw the harsh treatment of childless women.
Baby God is an 2020 American documentary film, directed and produced by Hannah Olson, which follows Quincy Fortier, a doctor who used his own sperm to inseminate fertility patients. Heidi Ewing and Rachel Grady were executive producers under their Loki Films banner.
Lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender people people wishing to have children may use assisted reproductive technology. In recent decades, developmental biologists have been researching and developing techniques to facilitate same-sex reproduction.
Fertility fraud is the failure on the part of a fertility doctor to obtain consent from a patient before inseminating her with his own sperm. This normally occurs in the context of people using assisted reproductive technology (ART) to address fertility issues.
Our Father is an American Netflix original documentary film directed by Lucie Jourdan and produced by Michael Petrella and Jason Blum. Its story follows former Indianapolis based fertility doctor Donald Cline, who, in a case of fertility fraud, used his own sperm to impregnate dozens of unsuspecting patients. The film was released on May 11, 2022. The film was watched for 42.60 million hours between May 8, 2022, and May 29, 2022, globally.
