INDIANAPOLIS -- A former fertility doctor has surrendered his medical license after being accused of using his own semen to inseminate patients without their consent, now those affected by his practices are pushing for change.
Donald Cline gave up his medical license before the medical licensing board of Indiana on Thursday.
Cline wasn’t present at the hearing, but several adults, who say they’re Cline’s offspring, were there to support each other through the process.
READ | The children of an Indy fertility doctor who used his own sperm want the act outlawed
Liz White gave birth to her son, Matt, in 1982. It wasn’t until 35 years later that she learned her doctor’s sperm was used in the artificial insemination.
“I trusted him,” said White. “I trusted everything that he told me. I had no reason and could not even conceptualize that this was a possibility.
For her son, Matt, the discovery has been agonizing.
‘It’s consumed me,” said Matt. “There’s a large part of my life that spends many nights thinking and wondering. He lives down the street from me. I can’t get away from it.”
He and other former patients and children watched as an attorney for Cline says the retired doctor has “no intention” of re-entering the medical field.
Matt calls the surrender of Cline’s medical license a “slap on the wrist.”
“I think that was a good step but it’s minor in comparison to the number of families that he has affected. We find people across the country, all the time. And these people’s lives are turned upside down.”
READ | Fertility doctor gets no jail time for lying about using his own sperm
Matt says he’s tracked down more than three dozen half-siblings with shared DNA on the website 23andme.com.
There is no law in Indiana that prevents a fertility doctor from using his own sperm to impregnate women without their consent, but those former patients are advocating for a change to ensure no other family has to have the same experience again.
The group is pushing for a state law that makes it illegal for doctors, like Cline, to use their own sperm in fertility treatments without a patient’s consent.
“We hope to establish that not only as an ethical issue but a criminal one,” said Matt.
Cline did not attend his hearing on Thursday and the Medical Licensing Board voted that he can never request to have his license reinstated in Indiana.
MORE TOP STORIES | Roncalli guidance counselor asked to resign over same-sex marriage | Carmel woman drives topolicestation during road rage incident | Beech Grove man charged with burglary, rape after woman finds him naked in her bed | Kokomo fire captain arrested for exposing himself to teen babysitter | 8 arrested during large drug bust in Indy
Top Trending Videos
