$8.75m awarded in damages after doctor used his own sperm

A Colorado-based jury has ordered a doctor who used his own sperm when treating a patient to pay $8.75m in damages, following a civil lawsuit.

Dr John Jones and the Women's Health Care of Western Colorado clinic were ordered to pay the money to Cheryl Emmons and her two daughters Maia Emmons-Boring and Tahnee Scott over several claims including medical negligence, lack of informed consent, fraud, and extreme conduct. Other former patients of the gynaecologist have also accused Dr Jones of using his own sperm to father 17 children this way, despite a lack of consent to do this (see BioNews 1033).

Many of his biological offspring discovered the fact after taking online DNA tests. Emmons-Boring told the New York Times she discovered that she had been conceived using Dr Jones sperm after she was contacted by a woman claiming to be her half-sibling after she took an Ancestry.com test. She said she dealt with a lot of guilt and said: 'It's turned so many lives upside down because I took that test.'

Patients of Dr Jones had been told they would receive a donation from either a doctor or a medical student for their fertility treatment and Dr Jones' and his legal team have argued in previous court cases that: 'all mothers asked for anonymous donation, and all mothers received anonymous donation.'

However, while using his own sperm on patients was not illegal when he did this in the 1970s and 80s, his case led to the state of Colorado passing a law in 2020 which outlawed a health care provider 'knowingly using gametes' from a donor without a patient's consent. Dr Jones gave up his licence within days of being accused of using his own sperm on patients.

The state is now poised to become the first state to ban anonymous sperm and egg donations and limit the number of donations each donor can make, following the publication of draft legislation last week. 'The promise of anonymity is not a promise that we can keep anymore,' said state representative Kerry Tipper, a sponsor of this bill and the 2020 bill in Colorado. It would be the first state in the USA to do so if the bill is passed.

Five other families who believe Dr Jones used his own sperm during fertility treatment settled out of court prior to trial and another two disputes are currently ongoing.