A former Indiana fertility doctor is becoming popular for the wrong reasons. He has retired last 2009, but his health service history continues to haunt his present as eight of his patients were discovered to have been impregnated with his own sperm.
NBC News reports that the misconduct of the doctor was revealed when one of the eight women took 23andMe's DNA test service and surprisingly saw that she was related to other users. It was later confirmed that the eight were siblings of whose mothers were artificially inseminated at Dr. Cline's fertility clinic since the 1970s.
The former fertility doctor denied using his own sperm, saying his clinic's sperm bank supply is sustained by donations from dental and medical students. This was refuted by guidelines that only allowed men to donate their sperm thrice.
Early this year, Dr. Cline finally admitted that he used his own sperm fifty times for his fertility clinic. Three of the siblings' DNA were tested and two of it matched with Dr. Cline's.
Because of this, Dr. Cline was charged with two felony counts of obstruction of justice for falsifying documents and misleading authorities. He went to court on Monday and was released then and there after he promised to return to court on Oct. 17.
According to CNN, if Dr. Cline would be proven guilty of both counts, he would suffer five years in prison. His lawyer chose to keep mum about the case because it is still ongoing.
As per New York Post, one of the reasons why women are becoming infertile is because career matters more than family life in this generation. These women chose to bear a baby from 40 to 44 years old than in their mid-20s to early-30s when they are at the peak of their careers.
Do you think that the former Indiana fertility doctor is guilty? If yes, what do you think is the appropriate punishment for his professional misconduct? Sound off your thoughts in the comment section and follow Parent Herald for more news and updates.
