A Connecticut woman discovered that her ex-boyfriend is her half-brother, after it transpired a fertility doctor used his own sperm in her mother's treatment.
Victoria Hill purchased a DNA testing kit after developing a health issue which did not affect either of her parent. Results revealed she had many half siblings, one of which was an ex-boyfriend from high school. Through these connections, she learned that her genetic father was Dr Burton Caldwell, a fertility doctor who had treated her mother, supposedly using donor sperm.
Hill told CNN that she was 'traumatised' by the findings, saying 'I have slept with my half-sibling, I went to elementary school with another.
She added: 'It has me look back at my whole high school experience through a totally different lens. It tarnishes the whole thing'.
Another of Dr Caldwell's biological children, Janine Pierson, has decided to pursue a lawsuit against the doctor, saying she is suffering from emotional distress at the thought she may unknowingly engage in an intimate relationship with a half-sibling. Dr Caldwell inseminated Pierson's mother using his own sperm, after claiming the sperm donor would be a Yale medical student.
Pierson's lawyer, Rosalie Louis of LTKE Law in New Haven, Connecticut, said: 'It is possible that the plaintiffs may bring a medical malpractice claim in addition to the claims filed so far. And in the future, we believe we may learn there may be other doctors who operated in the same fashion.'
As part of the lawsuit, Louis is looking into Dr Caldwell's links to Yale University School of Medicine, where he worked as an associate professor. Although neither Yale School of Medicine nor Yale New Haven Hospital where Dr Caldwell also worked are named in the lawsuit, lawyers are investigating whether he benefited from any federal funding given to the institutions for research and fertility treatment.
The case has highlighted the lack of laws in many US states, including Connecticut, preventing doctors from using their own sperm, so-called 'fertility fraud'.
A 2022 Netflix documentary on Dr Donald Cline, who fathered at least 90 children in Indiana, brought publicity to the issue of 'fertility fraud' in the USA (see BioNews 1147). Several states including Indiana have now passed laws outlawing the practice, but they remain the minority (see BioNews 998 and 1172).
The documentary inspired two members of Congress to co-author a federal Protecting Families from Fertility Fraud bill, which would criminalise misrepresenting the nature or source of DNA used in assisted reproductive procedures and other fertility treatments across the USA. The bill now has dozens of backers, from both Republican and Democratic parties.
Sources and References
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'I slept with my half-sibling': Woman's horror story reflects loosely regulated nature of US fertility industry
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Sperm donor nightmare leads woman to accidental incest with her half-brother
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Connecticut woman unwittingly slept with her HALF-BROTHER who was high school boyfriend, after mom used fertility doctor who secretly used his own sperm to get at least 22 patients pregnant
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Connecticut doctor secretly uses his own sperm to artificially inseminate multiple patients
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Woman learns she slept with her own brother after fertility doctor used his own sperm
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