Directed by Lucie Jordan, 'Our Father' is a compelling true-crime documentary on Netflix. Hes got autoimmune disease, said Jason Hyatt, one of the disgraced doctors biological children. Many viewers finished the film wondering what happened to the doctor who violated his patients for over a decade (at least, that's the confirmed span thus far). As the siblings waited for authorities to take action, Cline lived as a pillar of the community and an elder of his church, performing baptisms in his backyard swimming pool. (An actor for Cline is used in other parts of the film to re-create scenes). The subject of Netflix's newest hit documentary inseminated dozens of patients with his own sperm without their consent. He didnt give me a choice.. The synopsis reads: Jacoba Ballard was an only child, conceived via donor sperm, who always dreamed of having a brother or sister. 344, This story has been shared 331 times. In a statement, Our Father director Lucie Jourdan wrote that there are at least 44 additional male doctors from around the world who did the same thing as Cline. Magazines, Digital 1,076, This story has been shared 968 times. The film, which features interviews with the parents and their children, as well as others close to the situation, chronicles the siblings path to uncovering the truth of their biological parentage, and spotlights their fury and resolve as they failed to see Cline answer for his crimes in court. As unspooled in a new documentary, he had a dark secret: dozens of children fraudulently fathered through his fertility clinic . Sign up for PEOPLE's free True Crime newsletter for breaking crime news, ongoing trial coverage and details of intriguing unsolved cases. He gave up his medical license, even though it had expired that same . His sperm wouldnt even have been allowed to be a donor because of that, Hyatt said, noting the intense health screening most sperm donors undergo for any inheritable diseases or deficiencies. There isn't currently a federal law that would make these doctors' illicit inseminations a criminal offense. All Rights Reserved. It turned out that Cline was her biological father, and she was the first of over 90 (and counting) people who discovered that they were also Cline's biological children. What We Know About Her Continued 'Today Show' Absence, You Thought Bartise Was a Villain Before? In 2014, Jacoba Ballard decided to take an at-home DNA test. There is still no federal law on the subject. 2023 TIME USA, LLC. 'Mandalorian' Season 3 Release Time, Savannah Guthrie Rushed Out Of 'Today' After Testing Positive For COVID-19 During Live Broadcast, Where Is Hoda Kotb? It sounds almost too twisted to be real, but unfortunately, Our Father is an investigative documentary, and Dr. Donald Cline is a real man. (Alyssa Schukar) By the 1970s, hundreds of doctors were performing . Sibling Matt White suggests in the film that someone must have known that Cline was inseminating women with his own sperm. ET An explosive documentary on Netflix takes a new look at the life and work of Dr. Donald Cline, an Indiana University graduate who opened his infamous fertility clinic in Indianapolis, Ind., in 1979. He had placed the call to ask Ballard for help with damage control. Her devastated spouse howled, Hes taken everything away from me.. (There's even another documentary about a similar case in Nevada, HBO's Baby God (opens in new tab).) Nearly all of the half siblings, including Ballard, are afflicted with chorionic autoimmune diseases. 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New York, [5], In 2014 when Jacoba Ballard, a daughter of a former patient of Dr. Cline, reviewed the results of her at-home DNA test, she discovered a biological connection to eight previously unknown half-siblings. Jacoba Ballard is Our Father's protagonist, as the documentary traces her initial discovery, at 35-years-old, that she had seven half-siblings by taking a DNA test. He did this without their consent or knowledge; Cline's patients were under the impression they were receiving sperm from donors. In the film, directed by Lucie Jourdan of Taken at Birth fame, Ballard and a handful of her siblings theorize that breeding an all-white brood in an effort to preserve the Caucasian race may have been Clines motivation for wrongfully impregnating hordes of his patients with his own sperm. Delivered on weekdays. In the first official trailer for the forthcoming documentary Our Father, a routine Ancestry.com DNA test uncovers the misdeeds of Dr. Donald Cline. The attorney general then conducted an independent DNA test. He's going to grandchildren's swim meets and things like that. Jacoba Ballards life changed after she took an at-home DNA test and learned she had seven half-siblings. one sister said she has wondered about Cline. He has fathered over 90 children, with more and more half-siblings popping up on DNA testing sites every month. It's no easy task. If that. A new Netflix documentary tells the sickening true story of Dr. Donald Cline, a fertility specialist who inseminated patients with his own spermresulting in at least 94 children. Each time she saw a new connection appear on her profile, shed steel herself before reaching out to deliver the news. Netflix's bombshell new documentary, Our Father, which premiered on May 11, 2022, reveals chilling details about a once renowned fertility doctor, Donald Cline, from Indianapolis. The Medical Licensing Board of Indiana revoked his license in 2018. By Gina Tron. May 16, 2022 by Pallavi Bhadu. Indiana women sue Netflix for outing them as disgraced Indy fertility doctor's 'secret children' Dr. Donald Cline inseminated dozens of women with his own sperm without their knowledge or consent during the 1970s and 1980s. Dr. Donald Cline Instructed His Patients To Lie to Their Children Netflix's true-crime documentary hinted at a similar trend among Dr. Donald Cline's donor children - their parents had never told them they were conceived through insemination. Her search led her to a shocking discovery. He also began obliquely threatening the siblings with retribution should they continue their effort to bring charges against him and take their story public. 470, This story has been shared 436 times. When you visit this site, it may store or retrieve information on your browser, mostly in the form of cookies. This was a team effort full of a lot of sacrifice, dedication, and persistence. And you made me realize what my purpose is, too.. Cline has not publicly acknowledged or commented ties to the tradition. explained in the documentary. Unfortunately, the answer is as shocking as the documentary itself. From the late 70s to the mid-80s, Dr. Cline misrepresented the source of the sperm used to inseminate his patients. The new Netflix documentary Our Father tells the unsettling story of Dr. Donald Cline, a fertility doctor who was found to have inseminated dozens of women with his own sperm without their knowledge. At the time there was no Indiana state or federal law to criminalize Cline's actions, and his victims struggled to get justice. Shore worked with Cline for 13 years. As a result, it saw the former doctor fathering at least 50 children throughout the 1970s and '80s. Fertility Doctor Allegedly Used His Own Sperm 50 Times to Impregnate Patients, Cold Cases Heat Up: How Advances in DNA Technology Are Helping to Bring Justice for Victims, Our Favorite (Underrated!) An Update on Where Dr. Donald Cline From "Our Father" Is Now. Donald Cline: Netflix Doc Spotlights Fertility Doctor Who Used Own Sperm Crime How a Group of Siblings Uncovered a Fertility Doctor Who Was Serially Impregnating His Own Patients The sibling's. Cline is currently alive and in his 80s. This seems relevant to this article about the life of Don Cline. Visit our corporate site. [4], Cline received his undergraduate degree from Indiana University and his M.D. I donated my sample. Here's everything you need to know about the chilling true story that has the whole world shockedand what happened to Dr. Donald Cline. The Children Want Justice", "Fertility fraud: Iowa law criminalizes reproductive material deceit", "The U.S. Is Experiencing An Explosion Of Fertility Fraud Legislation. Urges the legislative council to assign the topic of fertility laws, including gestational surrogacy, to an appropriate study committee. Our Father, produced by Blumhouse Television, is streaming now on Netflix. Three more are pending.[9]. "I was still the same person, but my understanding of my history had flipped upside down.". We've received your submission. Controversy and jail time The number of confirmed siblings continued to grow as more people added their DNA to 23andMes database. Quiverfull is anultra-conservativeChristian movement mentioned in the film. We learn in the film that Cline has an affinity for the Bible verse "Jeremiah 1:5," and Ballard notes it's "one of the Bible verses Quiverfull uses." He was given a one-year suspended sentence and served no jail time, the Associated Press reports. Shop your favorite products and well find the best deal with a single click. "I feel like he's hiding something more sinister.". I just felt bad for my mother, said White. Photo: Netflix. Is there a quality source to confirm this story? In 2018, the siblings lobbying, led by Matt White and his mother Liz White, contributed to the passing of Indianas fertility-fraud law. 'Did you not consider we all live in a relatively close area?' It teases the story of Dr. Donald Cline, a former fertility doctor who used his own sperm in donations which resulted in his fathering at least 50 children throughout the 1970s and '80s. Hes an elder of the church.. Shell be crowned alongside her husband King Charles at the Coronation. The results can be truly horrific. So, were just now finding out that Julie is not yours, Kiesler recalled. Directed by Lucie Jourdan, Our Father zooms in on Zionsville, Indiana, where 35-year-old Jacoba Ballards DNA test reveals the existence of seven half-siblings. [10] Ballard played the audio of the voice mail. One of his former patients interviewed for the Atlantic story, Liz White, told the magazine the former doctor lives down the street over there. When the county prosecutors finally investigated Cline, the results were disappointing to the siblings, the women he inseminated, and their families. 'Yellowstone' Return Date Info, When Does The Next New Episode of 'Yellowstone' Air on Paramount Network? Reproductive endocrinologist & infertility specialist, Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital, "Donald Lee Cline in the Indiana, U.S., Birth Certificates, 1907-1944", "Donald Cline: The Fertility Doctor Accused of Fraud: Donald Cline secretly used his own sperm to impregnate fertility patients more than 50 times, but committed no crime with the lewd betrayals. Cline was not involved with the documentary or interviewed for it. Cline was handed a one-year suspended sentence for the two counts of obstruction of justice, and because state law hadn't specifically prohibited fertility doctors from using their own sperm, no other charges were brought against him. In 2014, at 35, the Indiana natives wish came true when she took a 23andMe DNA test and discovered that she had at least seven half brothers and sisters living within a 25-mile radius of her. According to Fox59, Cline has paid over $1.3 million in settlements to his victims and their families. D uring the 1970s and '80s, a fertility specialist in Indiana named Dr. Donald Cline inseminated dozens of patients with his own sperm, without their knowledge or consent. Despite his later admittance and the scale of his actions, nailing down a route to prosecution is difficult. Another sibling, Heather Woock, who shared her story publicly, began receiving phone calls pointedly inquiring if she was interested in purchasing a cemetery plot. 2022-05-06 12:12:49 - Paris/France. No respect," she wrote. But legally theres just no crime that touches this particular act.. 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In a moment when the right to safe and informed reproductive care is under threat in the U.S., Our Father is particularly resonant given the questions it raises about how our legal system views those seeking control over their own reproductive choices, and restitution when that autonomy is violated. Cline's jail sentence of 365 days was suspended. "[16], As of May 2022, Cline had paid out more than $1.35 million to settle three civil lawsuits filed by donor children and families. Though hes played by an actor, Keith Boyle, in the movie, he refused to participate in the film. Many of Cline's biological "children" including Jacoba Ballard reached out to their half-siblings and put pressure on the local media and authorities for accountability in the case. Because of that, in 2017, Cline was charged only with obstruction of justice, for lying to the attorney generals office about using his sperm on patients. As more and more people learn the former Zionsville doctor is their biological father, outraged victims search for answers, legal and existential", "Doctor's victims seek fertility fraud law", "Our Father: Who is Dr Donald Cline and where is he now? Experts joined them in pointing out that Cline would have had to masturbate somewhere nearby while the women were waiting insemination, and he could have still been experiencing the after-effects of arousal during the appointment. Fertility doctor Donald Cline is believed to have fathered at least 94 children by using his own sperm, and is now the subject of a new Netflix documentary. He told us that he would match us with a donor that looked like my husband, said Pierce. There's no hiding.". To grandchildren 's swim meets and things like that, Digital 1,076 this! 'S going to grandchildren 's swim meets and things like that the whole world shockedand what happened to Dr. Cline... 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