Ballard told The Atlantic she knew she had been conceived through a donor since she was 10, and as an adult she was curious to find any half-siblings conceived through the same donor. It was the reaction of a person used to being powerful.. But her response upset Gott, who believed her origin story explained the dislocation shed felt her whole life in jobs and in social situations. For years, Ballard and her half-siblings have wondered what led Cline to lie to his patients and use his own sperm to impregnate them. One of Cline's children, Jacoba Ballard, uncovered the truth when she grew suspicious of the doctor after taking a 23AndMe DNA test in search of possible half-siblings. A judge suspended the former doctor's sentence, though Cline did pay a $500 fine and court costs, which totaled $185. When Joseph took a DNA test in 2017 and discovered his paternity, he and his twin briefly wondered whether they had different fathers, because Cline had told their mother hed mixed a donors sperm with her husbands. And half siblings have met one another, creating new iterations of family entirely different from the traditional family unit their parents were seeking when they went to a fertility doctor. It was almost like this perfect Aryan clan,' Ballard said in the documentary. Aldi releases list of 30 sites where it wants to open stores - is one of them near you? CeCe Moore, a genealogist who has helped adoptees and donor-conceived children find family, told me shes come across enough cases of fertility doctors using their own sperm that when I see these large groups of half siblings, its actually the first thing I think about now. Many of the sibling groups have chosen to stay private, and their reactions run the gamut. Hed dealt with infertility himself; his own two kids were conceived through sperm donationthe modern version, with online catalogs and donors baby photos. On the other, it couldnt have been so beyond the pale if it was presented as an option in a multiple-choice survey. Many of them live within a tight radius of one another in Indiana, and unfortunately close to Cline. By combing through public records and social-media profiles, and some times simply asking genetic matches about their families, they could build a giant family tree that, they hoped, would eventually lead to their father. Information about your device and internet connection, like your IP address, Browsing and search activity while using Yahoo websites and apps. Due to the fact that so many of Cline's biological children share his characteristics of blonde hair and blue eyes, this theory has gained a lot of traction. ; While wondering why Cline did it, his children . Back in high-school biology class, hed realized that his blood type didnt match his parents. They have defamed me. It wasnt the reaction of a scared, powerless person. Matt rented out a picnic pavilion, and brought name tags because many of the siblings were meeting for the first time. He had two children with Susie, Donna and Doug Cline. First, Cline has two children with his wife, Audrey. In the call, which Ballard recorded, Cline told her he regretted what hed donethough he admitted to using his own sperm only nine or 10 timesand quoted Jeremiah 1:5, in which God lays out his plan for the prophet: Before I formed you in your mothers womb, I knew you. Again, Ballard felt he was using her faith to try to manipulate her. 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 . Our Father speculated that Cline may have had religious motivations behind his actions because of his affiliation with Quiverfull, an extremist sect of Christianity that encourages its followers to procreate as much as possible. When the news about Cline came out, the medical community denounced his actions. We exist to serve those believers who trust the Lord for family size, and to answer the questions of those seeking truth in this critical area of marriage, the website says. According to Netflix, Cline inseminated at least 50 people with his own sperm without their consent, and he has at least 50 children, proven by DNA tests. Her mom said not to worry. Cline was a highly-respected fertility doctor a the time. Powered by. Medical residencies last only a few years. The same Christmas Heather Woock got her DNA test, shed made her father a book tracing his genealogy, all the way up to Scottish royalty. If it was going to be anyone, Im glad its him. Gott says her mom later talked about having seen pictures of Clines kids on the wall and how pretty they were, and how intelligent. There are currently 94 known half-siblings, as stated in the Netflix documentary, and that number is likely to increase as more people involved conduct DNA tests. I havent really known who I am; thats why I havent been able to figure out what Im supposed to do in the world, she says. Many people have been left devastated by the news and the fear of more 'siblings' coming forward ( Image: NETFLIX) According to Netflix,. DNA tests were often given as gifts that delivered family secrets. (In those days, medical students were nearly all men.). Many of the children Cline fathered still live in Indianapolis, and they find themselves accidentally running into his family. Several of the Cline siblings interviewed for the documentary believe there are more uncounted siblings. When you talk to people about the Cline case, its a physiological reaction of disgust, the sense that its deeply, morally wrong, she says. Netflix. Matt figured it out before his mom did. She had wanted kids like that. She got a couple more messages from other supposed half siblings while she was away. Cline's former church, who aren't openly associated with Quiverfull, responded to Fox59, claiming Cline had admitted unethical behaviour, but that hey . A few weeks after we spoke, Amy emailed to say we had to talk. In addition to Cline, the documentary claims, there are 44 other doctors who have used their own sperm to impregnate their patients; they, too, were discovered through at-home DNA testing. But consider the alternative: To tell Mrs. Jones versus 30 years later having it come out like this. (Some of the donor children asked me not to use their real names, because they hadnt told everyone in their lives about their paternity.) At the end of the documentary, we're told there are currently 94 children biologically related to Cline. The website says that they provide encouragement and practical help to those who are striving to raise a large and growing, godly family in todays world! Quiverfull also writes that they welcome those with families of any size. In other news, Peaky Blinders's Cillian Murphy and his wife Yvonne McGuinness keep love life discreet. Based on the birth dates of his youngest known donor children, Cline stopped using his own sperm in the late 1980s, when sperm banks became more common. Many years ago, in 1963, Donald Cline killed a young girl in a road accident, and despite not being found criminally guilty, the man had grave remorse for it and had turned to religion to deal with his feelings. Its unclear if he still lives in the Indianapolis area, where at least a dozen of his biological children still reside. Tyler now wonders whether she knew all along that the sperm came from a donor, even if she didnt know that donor was Cline. Their persistence was strange. Did you never consider that?" In addition to Jacoba Ballard, Our Father features half-siblings Julie Harmon, Matt White, Heather Woock, Lisa Shepherd-Stidham, Jason Hyatt, Carrie Foster, and Alison. In fact, according to the documentary, he technically may have fathered more than 94 children. Their kids ran through sprinklers. Dr. Don Cline was a fertility doctor who used his own sperm to inseminate patients without their consent, according to the Netflix documentary "Our Father." The answer, Ballard and her half siblings assumed, was in their DNA. When Matt White, another of Cline's biological children, and a bunch of half-siblings confronted Cline in 2016, he admitted to having used his own . He wasnt charged with battery with bodily wasteIndiana considers that a crime only if its done in a rude, insolent, or angry manner. He wasnt charged with criminal deceptionany records were long gone. 5 min read. Later he got discharged in a respected way from his . Tim DeLaney, the prosecutor in this case, told me he saw the original wrong as a transgression by a person in power. Ballard said on the documentary she would contact her half-siblings after learning of their connections on ancestry databases. The children Cline fathered with his patients now number at least 50, confirmed by DNA tests from 23andMe or Ancestry.com. At the time, there weren't any Indiana laws that prohibited the secret use of a doctor's own sperm. In 'Our Father,' Dr. Donald Cline's wife is referred to as Susie, but in reality, her name is Audrey. They believed the donor was not a single medical resident, but rather Cline. Cline was a top fertility doctor in Indianapolis; he had a lot of patients. Cline, who was then in his late 70s, walked in with a cane. They saw a doctor who cared more about his professional success than his patients well-being. A 1977 survey found that more than half of the doctors did not even keep records, so as to leave no paper trail connecting donor and child. His attorneys did not respond to a request for comment.) She knew the thought wasnt entirely rational, but she couldnt shake the feeling that a dark impulse might be lurking deep within her. Cline, he said, lives down the street over there. Peaky Blinders's Cillian Murphy and his wife Yvonne McGuinness keep love life discreet, {{#media.media_details}} {{#media.focal_point}}. More like this Curtis "Cousin Eddie" Smith Claims Alex. To have your doctor masturbate in his office and then to have that same doctor sit between your legs, injecting his sperm inside youthe edifice separating the clinical and the sexual breaks down completely. The documentary states that Cline was married at the time of practising medicine. ', Meanwhile, Matt White couldn't help but ask: 'How the f**l did no one know for decades? Sperm donation was shrouded in secrecy from the beginning. As Ballard and her half siblings researched their family tree, one suspiciously familiar name kept coming up: Cline. Premiering on May 11, ' Our Father ' chronicles how a woman's DNA test led to the sickening discovery that the once lauded Dr. Donald Cline secretly fathered dozens of his patients' children at . ", Sign up to receive the freshest reviews and recommendations for Streaming and On Demand. Clinelost his medical license and was fined just $500 for his actions. As of May 11, 2022, Cline has been confirmed as the biological father of 94 doctor-conceived offspring. The four of them took 23andMe tests to confirm they were half-sisters, but the results revealed they also had four more half-siblings. Ignorance is bliss, she told me, wistfully drawing out the last word. Netflix is also available on Sky Glass and Virgin Media Stream.The latest issue of Radio Times magazine is on sale now subscribe now and get the next 12 issues for only 1. Please review our privacy policy here: https://heavy.com/privacy-policy/, Copyright 2023 Heavy, Inc. All rights reserved. Premiering on May 11, 'Our Father' chronicles how a woman's DNA test led to the sickening discovery that the once lauded Dr. Donald Clinesecretly fathered dozens of his patients' children at his clinic in Indianapolis in the '70s and '80s. They keep in touch through a Facebook group. Did you not consider we all live in a relatively close area? one sister said she has wondered about Cline. Cline fathered at least 94 biological children, according to the documentary, but the exact number of children conceived is impossible to know. Can you solve this trivia riddle? In 1987, a national survey of fertility doctors found that 2 percent had used their own sperm in patients. 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