A retired fertility doctor in Indiana is accused of using his own sperm to impregnate his patients and leading them to believe that the sperm came from an anonymous donor.
The Indianapolis Star reports that Dr. Donald Cline, 78, will face a pre-trial hearing in Marion County this fall on obstruction of justice charges that accuse him of misleading authorities investigating claims about Cline using his own sperm for in-vitro fertilization procedures on patients.
Cline pleaded not guilty in September 2016 to two felony counts of obstruction of justice.
The 78-year-old from Zionsville reportedly told six adults, who claimed they were his children, that he donated his sperm in the 1970s about 50 times, according to a probable cause affidavit.
When treating his patients, he allegedly told them the samples came from anonymous donors who were mostly medical residents or students and claimed he never used a single donor’s sperm more than three times.
Cline is believed to have fathered at least 20 children with his sperm.
WTTV reported that Cline allegedly told one of his biological children that he used his own sperm when he could not find a donor.
“It’s hard for me to fathom that somebody can do this and basically get away with this,” said Julie Harmon, 35, of New Palestine, who found out that Cline was her biological father. “He took away the ability for my dad to have a biological child.”
But when investigators started looking into complaints from his patients, he denied that he used his sperm.
“I can emphatically say that at no time did I ever use my own sample for insemination,” he said in a letter to the Indiana Attorney General’s Office.
Harmon said that, although she thinks it is likely Cline will not be convicted due to his age and the charges, she at least hopes Cline will apologize.
“What I want first and foremost and above all else, an apology, an apology to my parents, to my dad,” Harmon said.
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