‘He ruined our lives.’ Fertility doctor says he used his own sperm on ‘about 50’ patients
When Julie Harmon found out that her mother’s fertility doctor was her biological father, she “cried every day for four months,” she told the Indy Star. Then, genetic tests connected her to around 20 other half-siblings — and she was devastated, left wanting justice.
She sat in a courtroom with at least five other biological siblings Thursday as their biological father, Dr. Donald Cline, read a statement admitting to lying to investigators about using his own sperm as many as 50 times on patients, according to Fox 29.
“Out of fear, I acted alone and foolishly, I lied,” he told the court,” Cline, 79, told the Marion County, Ind. court, FOX 29 reported.
Cline pleaded guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice, court documents show. He was sentenced to 365 days in jail, which was suspended, so he will serve no time. According to court documents, his light sentence was due to lack of criminal history that was “unlikely to occur.”
“There were many of us out here that he ruined our lives,” said Dianna Kiesler, Harmon’s mother, told the Indy Star.
Jacoba Ballard was the first of the siblings whose initial genetics investigation started unraveling the family’s unknown truth, CNN reported.
She took a fertility test three years ago and found at least seven other siblings, which then connected her to several others, WISHTV reported. Ballard’s mother Deborah Pierce said she had “no idea” her fertility doctor had used his own sperm.
“I couldn’t believe it actually, I didn’t really know until the prosecutor’s DNA test report came out and it was 99.9 percent,” Pierce told WISHTV. “You feel like he deceived you, you were lied to.”
Later, Ballard and five other siblings had a face-to face meeting with Cline, he admitted to using his sperm “about 50 times,” saying he “felt he was helping the woman because they really wanted a baby,” and he felt pressured because “he didn’t always have fresh sperm” at the clinic, according to court documents obtained by CNN.
Cline won’t face any other charges because Indiana law doesn’t “specifically prohibit fertility doctors from using their own sperm,” the Associated Press reported.
Harmon, Ballard and several other of their siblings want justice for what happened to them.
“I want accountability,” Liz White told The Indy Channel. White was a former patient of Cline’s, whose son Matt found out that Cline was his biological father through genetic tests. “When someone has misled someone, particularly in the field of medicine, there is accountability to it. Second, I want a state statute so it becomes a crime, not an ethical issue.”
Indiana State Sen. Michael Young told The Indy Channel that the legislature “may look at the issue this year.”
This story was originally published December 15, 2017 at 8:53 AM with the headline "‘He ruined our lives.’ Fertility doctor says he used his own sperm on ‘about 50’ patients."