The fertility doctor who secretly fathered many children is barred from medical practice

Dr. Donald Cline, MD, from Marion County, Indiana who secretly used his sperm during the IVF treatment for many of his patients has surrendered his license and is barred from ever practicing again.

Dr. Cline practiced as infertility specialist in Indianapolis area during the 1970s and 1980s and may have fathered dozens of children under the guise of using "fresh sperm" from a medical student or resident. In the United States, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report that from 2011 to 2015, as many as 12 percent of women reported having used infertility services such as artificial insemination.

It is currently not known that how many couples did Cline deceived, exactly how many children were fathered and what was his motive behind this action. The matter came to light when Jacoba Ballard's discovered that she shares her DNA with 8 unknown siblings when she took a DNA test from 23andMe.com—a direct-to-consumer DNA testing service.

Out of 8, only one was identifiable by name, and she and Ballard got together to construct a family tree only to realize that their mothers have gone to Cline clinic for fertility treatments.  Ballard and her half-siblings arranged a meeting with Cline himself who finally confessed that he had used his sperm in as much as 50 cases to help unknowing patients who desperately wanted children. For now, it is not precisely known that how many women have Cline exactly fertilized using his sperms.

Many families and children have since come forward for DNA testing, and reports from ancestry.com and 23andMe have found another three dozen of Kelly half-sibling. They have formed a group on social media, and many of them are in contact with each other. With the rising popularity of DNA testing and social media presence of more and more people, the Ballard is sure of adding more siblings to her group.

Ballard filed a complaint against Cline with the Indiana attorney general's office. Cline was charged with obstruction of criminal justice after lying to investigators about two confirmed cases of paternity. US laws differ state wise when it comes to fertility doctors using their sperms, and Indiana law does not explicitly prohibit fertility doctors from using their sperms.

In December 2017, Cline pleaded guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice, admitting that he intentionally lied about using his sperm to impregnate his patients. Cline was given a 365-day suspended sentence for the felony conviction.

“Not only did Dr. Cline abuse his position of complete trust with his patients, his decisions will have a lasting impact through generations of the impacted families,” Prosecutor Terry Curry stated after the sentence was announced. “There were significant limitations to how a criminal case could proceed against Dr. Cline, but ultimately he admitted to his actions and to intentionally misleading investigators.”

The FDA clearance of direct-to-consumer DNA testing and a lot of TV advertisement has made DNA testing look like fun. Many of the ads promote it as a holiday or Christmas gift. However, consumers should be aware of the potential downside of casual genetic testing—they may find something that has the potential to change the life for good or bad and physician should always explain patients about the pros and cons of genetic testing.

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