From the 1970s through the 1990s, Donald Cline was a renowned fertility specialist in Indiana. In 2014, Jacoba Ballard decided to take an at-home DNA test. 344, This story has been shared 331 times. 'Perfect Match' Turned Him Into a SUPER Villain, Hasan Minhaj Destroys 'Dilbert' Cartoonist Scott Adams on 'The Daily Show', Alex Murdaugh Trial So Far: The 9 Most Shocking Takeaways, Amanda Batula Explains Her Weight Loss on Summer House, Nicolle Wallace Takes Over Hosting 'The Beat' After Ari Melbers Surprise Absence, Where to Watch 'South Park' Meghan Markle and Prince Harry Episode, Meghan McCain Calls Out Former 'View' Coworker Joy Behar for Her "Evil" East Palestine Comments. The obstruction of justice charges meant that no evidence related to Clines actions toward his former patients was admissiblethough those actions constituted the injustice for which the siblings and their parents were truly seeking restitution. Is 'Yellowstone' On Tonight? Delivered on weekdays. When she isnt writing or checking Twitter, shes probably watching the latest K-drama or giving a concert performance in her car. But years later, owing to Ballards initial 23andMe findings, it became clear that the rule had been broken. Our Father includes interviews with eight of the 94 siblings. Two of them lived on the same street. Matt White, one of the children fathered using Cline's sperm, helped to get the bill passed. To revisit this article, select My Account, thenView saved stories. Through further investigation, it is revealed that they and many more are all connected at the root of their family tree by Dr. Cline. Finding out that I had siblings was amazing, Ballard admitted. The new Netflix documentary 'Our Father' details how Dr. Donald Cline, a fertility specialist in Indianapolis, Indiana, used his own sperm to inseminate patients without their consent 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. It's no easy task. When I opened up Ancestry, I had over 3,000 hits, says one. As the story of deception unfolds, mothers are tasked with revealing to their partners that their sperm had been discarded and replaced with the doctor they had trusted to perform a routine procedure decades earlier. Don Cline was also my fertility doctor, she tearfully confesses on camera. Experts joined them in pointing out that Cline would have had to masturbate somewhere nearby while the women were waiting insemination, and he could have still been experiencing the after-effects of arousal during the appointment. As a lawyer explains in the documentary, it would have been extremely hard to charge Cline with rape, both because Indiana didn't have a specific law considering what he did a sexual violation and because he was well-known in the community, as the preeminent fertility doctor in Indianapolis during his career. Directed by Lucie Jordan, 'Our Father' is a compelling true-crime documentary on Netflix. Our Fatheris unmissable. Dr. Donald Cline was once a respected fertility doctor from Indianapolis, Indiana. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. 470, This story has been shared 436 times. Is '12 Desperate Hours' on Lifetime Based On a True Story? Netflix's latest true crime documentary Our Father unpacks the chilling case of Dr. Donald Cline. One sibling sold another a wagon at a garage sale. The Quiverfull motion is a Christian-based philosophy held by some {couples} who take into account massive households blessings from God. It turned out that Cline was her biological father, and she was the first of over 90 (and counting) people who discovered that they were also Cline's biological children. Its almost like were like this perfect Aryan clan Most of us have blond hair and blue eyes.. And I will fight for every sibling that I have that I know, that I dont know, and for every woman you assaulted. You can find out more and change our default settings with Cookies Settings. 1,222, This story has been shared 1,076 times. Our marriage will be over. document.getElementById( "ak_js_1" ).setAttribute( "value", ( new Date() ).getTime() ); Thanks for contacting us. We were told there were no laws to charge Cline or others that would engage in similar deplorable actions and the only thing to do would be to create a law. 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. The documentary genre on Netflix is characterized by the presentation of incredible stories, sometimes difficult to By the time the children of Clines former patients began to uncover the extent of his crimes in 2015, he was well into retirement, living in Indianapolis, Indiana. In a statement, Our Father director Lucie Jourdan wrote that there are at least 44 additional male doctors from around the world who did the same thing as Cline. Our Fathers main focus is on highlighting the lack of legal recourse afforded to the siblings and their parents. I know Im going to call them and Im going to ruin their life, she says in the documentary. "This led to an identity crisis," Woock tells PEOPLE. Our Father drops on Netflix on May 11. After interning at Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital, he served two years in the Air Force and 12 years as inactive reserve. The film explores the real-life story of the disgraced doctor, who . "Because someone is in a position of power or authority, [it] doesn't always make them completely trustworthy," she says. Imagine finding out you have more siblings than you think In 2017, Dr. Cline pleaded guilty to two felony obstruction of justice charges after falsely denying to state investigators that he had been using his own sperm to inseminate patients. When the county prosecutors finally investigated Cline, the results were disappointing to the siblings, the women he inseminated, and their families. It was a violation of him into me, said Diana Kiesler, whose daughter Julie is Clines biological child. He was given a one-year suspended sentence and served no jail time, the Associated Press reports. Despite the victims' and children's ongoing calls for justice, Cline was never charged with rape. The fertility fraud law makes it illegal for fertility doctors to use their own sperm without their patient's consent, and it allows the doctor's victims, their spouses, and their children to sue in civil court. "I don't think we'll ever know why he was doing it," Ballard says. He lives within just a few blocks of some of the children he fathered without their mothers consent. . Reproductive endocrinologist & infertility specialist, Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital, "Donald Lee Cline in the Indiana, U.S., Birth Certificates, 1907-1944", "Donald Cline: The Fertility Doctor Accused of Fraud: Donald Cline secretly used his own sperm to impregnate fertility patients more than 50 times, but committed no crime with the lewd betrayals. May 16, 2022 by Pallavi Bhadu. 00:00 00:00 An unknown error has occurred Author: WTHR.com staff The documentary follows her journey to find as many of her half-siblings as she can and bring Dr. Cline to justice. His sperm wouldnt even have been allowed to be a donor because of that, Hyatt said, noting the intense health screening most sperm donors undergo for any inheritable diseases or deficiencies. After . Our Father suggests Cline may have been motivated by ideology born of his affiliation with an extremist Christian sect called Quiverfull, which encourages followers to reproduce as prolifically as possible to meet Gods mandate to be fruitful and multiply, and install adherents in positions of power. The results confirmed a 99.9997% probability of paternity. (An actor for Cline is used in other parts of the film to re-create scenes). Robert Colver, Cline's former partner at work, and Jan Shore, his former nurse, deny having any knowledge of Cline's actions. He had his staff recite prayers together, advised patients to pray on their treatment choices, decorated his office with Christian sayings, and had an affinity for the verse Jeremiah 1:5 (Before I formed you in your mothers womb I knew you.), which is often featured in material extoling the Quiverfull lifestyle. He told his patients that the sperm donors were anonymous medical residents, and that no single donors sperm was used more than three times. As the story unfolds and more brothers and sisters are found, the gravity of Dr. Donald Cline's scheme becomes all the more severe. The more we destigmatize infertility, combined with technological advances, the less likely it is for a doctor to do this again today.". It teases the story of Dr. Donald Cline, a former fertility doctor who used his own sperm in donations, which resulted in his fathering at least 50 children throughout the 1970s and '80s. Ballard, 41, and her half siblings' quest to find answers and justice is the focus of the new Netflix documentary, Our Father, produced by Blumhouse Television, which is streaming now. One he also represented himself as a keynote speaker at the International Symposium for Infertility in Bologna, Italy. 436, This story has been shared 402 times. At the end, it's revealed that there are at least 94 Cline siblings. During this time, hopeful. In 1982, she had no clue that her infertility specialist then lauded as one of the best in the field had somehow discarded her husbands sperm sample and used his own to impregnate her. At the time The Atlantic's 2019 article on Cline was published, he was in his 80s and still living in his home town of Indianapolis, Indiana. He kept a low profile and still had many supporters in the community. Jennifer Lawrence Just Embraced the Controversial Y2K Drop-Waist Trend, Christina Applegates Red-Carpet Appearance Came With a Powerful Message, 'Hogwarts Legacy' Seemingly Introduces Trans Character Amid J.K. Rowling Controversy. [27][32], Cline has two children with his wife, Audrey, in addition to 94 other children conceived by artificially inseminating women without their knowledge. Despite the fact that what Cline did was undeniably a sexual violation, a somewhat crass and unsympathetic lawyer explains in the documentary that it was not legallyaccording to Indiana state lawrape. As a result of his crimes, Cline lost his medical license (after he had already retired, in 2009), paid a measly $500 fine, and served a single year of probation. As is often and infuriatingly the case in the U.S. justice system, in order to pursue Cline for the crime he had committed, it was necessary to prosecute him for something else. Jacoba Ballard, Deborah Pierce v. Anonymous Health Care Provider, John Doe, M.D. More than 50 U.S. fertility doctors are accused of fraud related to sperm donation. . [20] On May 17, 2019, Indiana became the first state to designate fertility fraud as a Level 6 felony. It tells the story of an Indianapolis fertility doctor who inseminated patients with his own sperm, without their knowledge. When six of the half-siblings confronted Cline, according to the documentary, he admitted to using his own sperm and said their parents' records were destroyed. The healthy baby justified the lie. Future US, Inc. Full 7th Floor, 130 West 42nd Street, In the trailer for Our Father, some of Cline's other children recall that they also learned about him through DNA kits. An at-home DNA test led her to the discovery of not one but seven half-siblingsa number that defied best practices in fertility medicine. This is despite the victims interviewed in the documentary saying that they never would've consented to him being the sperm donor, and that they felt violated by what he did. Andy Garcia, Gloria Estefan break tradition in Father o King Charles to evict Harry and Meghan from Frogmore Cottage and give to Andrew, 'Elvis' star Austin Butler was rushed to ER after 'body just started shutting down', Drug-resistant stomach bug spreading across US: 'Serious public health alert', Meghan Markle, Prince Harry have first night out since bombshell Spare released, Jordyn Woods supports Selena Gomez amid singers feud with Kylie Jenner, Hailey Bieber, RHONJ recap: Jennifer Aydin mocks Rachel Fudas terrible nose job, Savannah Guthrie Rushed Out Of Today After Testing Positive For COVID-19 During Live Broadcast, Meghan Markle, Prince Harry have first night out since bombshell 'Spare' released. And I will do this until the fking day I die., 2023 NYP Holdings, Inc. All Rights Reserved, White rhino born at San Diego Zoo means significant step toward saving endangered species, I found out my gynecologist was my secret dad and he knew it, Florida woman awarded $5.25M after doc used own sperm to impregnate her, Brazil scientists test frozen jaguar semen to help species, wrongfully impregnating hordes of his patients with his own sperm, lied to investigators with the Indiana attorney generals office, pleaded guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice, wouldnt even have been allowed to be a donor. He has fathered over 90 children, with more and more half-siblings popping up on DNA testing sites every month. In 2016, Cline was charged with two charges of felony obstruction of justice: for lying to the attorney general's office about using his sperm with two victims; and for threatening Ballard with lawsuits for "slander and libel". Photo: Netflix. By Gina Tron. A judge suspended the former doctor's sentence, though Cline did pay a $500 fine and court costs, which totaled $185. Ballards mother, Debbie Pierce, sought Clines help with getting pregnant in 1979, after it was determined that her husband couldnt have children naturally. This seems relevant to this article about the life of Don Cline. He had placed the call to ask Ballard for help with damage control. Our Father, produced by Blumhouse Television, is streaming now on Netflix. In 2014 when Jacoba Ballard, a daughter of a former patient of Dr. Cline, reviewed the results of her at-home DNA test, . The film, which premieres on Netflix on May 11, follows the biological children of the disgraced fertility doctor who covertly inseminated dozens of patients with his own sperm during his 40-year career. Cline opened a fertility clinic in Indiana in 1979 and secretly used his own sperm to impregnate women who visited him for artificial insemination, claiming the donations were from medical residents. Netflix's bombshell new documentary, Our Father, which premiered on May 11, 2022, reveals chilling details about a once renowned fertility doctor, Donald Cline, from Indianapolis. Little is known about Donald Cline's wife Susie, but according to the film the couple had two children - Donna and . As a result, it saw the former doctor fathering at least 50 children throughout the 1970s and '80s. (There's even another documentary about a similar case in Nevada, HBO's Baby God (opens in new tab).) What We Know About Her Continued 'Today Show' Absence, You Thought Bartise Was a Villain Before? The individuals touched by this were very emotional and had a feeling I [was there] to deliver catharsis. His practice was located in Indianapolis, where several patients would consult him regarding . (Still, I watched intently during its entire 97-minute run time.). [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. This was a team effort full of a lot of sacrifice, dedication, and persistence. I dont deny that it was a sexual violation, a talking head states in the trailer. Dr. Donald Cline As shown in the " Our Father " documentary released in May, Cline was proven to have secretly used his sperm to impregnate dozens of patients at his fertility clinic . 99.9997 % probability of paternity U.S. fertility doctors are accused of fraud related to donation. Re-Create scenes ). ). ). ). ). )..., and persistence test led her to the discovery of not one but seven half-siblingsa number that best. 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