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The children of an Indy fertility doctor who used his own sperm want the act outlawed

Posted at 6:33 PM, Dec 11, 2017
and last updated 2017-12-11 18:33:24-05

INDIANAPOLIS -- The former patients and alleged offspring of an Indianapolis fertility doctor say they want Indiana to pass laws criminalizing what happened to them.

Dr. Donald Cline is expected to plead guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice on Thursday for allegedly lying to investigators looking into whether he used his own sperm at his former Indianapolis fertility clinic.

Cline came under investigation after Matt White, now 35, discovered he apparently had several siblings by Cline through the website 23andMe.com.

FULL STORY | Indianapolis fertility doctor accused of donating his own sperm, lying to investigators

Although Cline is expected to face criminal penalties for lying to investigators, there is currently no state law that makes it illegal for a doctor to use his own sperm to inseminate patients. White and his mother, one of Cline’s former patients, want that changed.

“I want accountability,” Liz White said. “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.”

State Sen. Michael Young (R-Indianapolis) said the legislature may look at the issue this year.

“Although our bill deadline is past the Dec. 8 cutoff, we will have a chance to look in committee and find bills that we might be able to amend and try to find out the facts and understand exactly what took place and try to prevent anyone in the future from doing something like this,” Young said.

White, who now has donor children himself, has written a letter to the court hearing Cline’s case saying he wants no other mother or child to experience the anguish Cline has caused so many.

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