Donald Cline

Donald Cline is an American medical doctor and fertility specialist.[1] He became notorious following a fertility fraud investigation[2] where he was found to have inseminated patients without their consent or knowledge at his fertility clinic near Indianapolis which led to him being the biological father of over 50 people.[3][4]

Education

Cline got an undergraduate degree from Indiana University and his M.D. from Indiana University's medical school. After interning at Methodist Hospital, he was in the United States Air Force for two years and was in inactive reserve for 12 years until he received an honorable discharge. In 1979, he opened a clinic on 2020 West 86th Street in the Indianapolis area.[5]

Fertility fraud

Investigations started after Jacoba Ballard took a DNA test and found out she had eight unknown siblings. She would later learn that that her biological father was her mother's fertility doctor.[6]

He acknowledged using his sperm to inseminate patients without their consent or knowledge at his fertility clinic near Indianapolis which led to him being the biological father of over 50 people.[3][4]

After the investigations, Cline was given a one-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice.[7] He was not charged any further as there was no law in Indiana specifically prohibiting fertility doctors from using their own sperm.

Depiction in media

Donald Cline's fertility fraud is the subject of a Netflix documentary titled Our Father premiering in May 2022.[8][9]

References
  1. Susan Scutti. "Fertility doctor used own sperm 'around 50 times,' papers say". CNN. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
  2. Zhang, Sarah (2019-03-18). "The Fertility Doctor's Secret". The Atlantic. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
  3. Zaveri, Mihir (2018-08-30). "A Fertility Doctor Used His Sperm on Unwitting Women. Their Children Want Answers". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
  4. "Baby God: how DNA testing uncovered a shocking web of fertility fraud". the Guardian. 2020-12-02. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
  5. "Donald Cline: The Fertility Doctor Accused of Fraud". Indianapolis Monthly. 2019-05-15. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
  6. "Fertility Doctor Arrested for Allegedly Using His Own Sperm 'Around 50 Times' to Impregnate Patients". Complex. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
  7. "Fertility doctor who lied about using his own sperm avoids jail time". www.cbsnews.com. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
  8. "Everything You Need to Know About 'Our Father'". Netflix Tudum. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
  9. Felbin, Sarah (2022-04-14). "Watch The Exclusive Trailer For 'Our Father,' Netflix's Latest True Crime Doc". Women's Health. Retrieved 2022-04-17.
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