An article by Natasha Sawhney
“There is no crime that touches this particular act. That’s our problem.” – Tim Delaney, from ‘Our Father’
Fertility fraud, a crime that has changed and ruined thousands of lives, remains legal in the majority of the world. Only 10 states in the USA have officially criminalized the non-consensual insemination of a patient by their doctor, and it continues to be under review in 7 others. With more and more cases coming into the light, it begs the question- are the victims of these crimes getting the justice they deserve? Is fertility fraud merely unethical or a crime? These are questions that this article will try to analyze.
During the 1970s and 80s, Dr. Donald Cline worked as a fertility doctor, and inseminated multiple patients using his own specimen without their consent. Many of these women believed the specimen to be of their own husbands’ until years later, when an online DNA test revealed the truth. Dozens of random individuals discovered that they were all fathered by one man. The revelation shattered many people’s sense of safety, identity and family. Women that were non-consensually inseminated by the doctor felt violated, and some even felt as though they were raped. The massive effect this case had on hundreds of people should have been reason alone for him to receive imprisonment. But he didn't. He did, however, lose his license to practice medicine- which has been the norm for almost all other fertility fraud cases. Across countries like the USA, Canada and Netherlands, doctors such as Quincy Fortier, Cecil Jacobson, Jos Beek and more, have committed similar crimes. None of these doctors have been brought to justice. The lack of a law related to this enabled them to walk free, while the victims and their families were left to fight for their rights.
So why isn’t it criminalized yet? We’re all wondering the same thing- everyone knows it's wrong, why aren't we just declaring it a crime? The problem comes in with the enforcement. Most US fertility centers require consent to donor anonymity, making the discovery of parentage difficult. Even though some countries made provisions to retain the information of a donor, it is mostly only uptil 10 years that they keep the information. With the help of certain online DNA sites like ‘23andMe’, once people learn of their true lineage, due to their lack of “evidence” they are often left claimless. Moreover, the angle that some courts choose to take, is the one of “the gift of life”. They believe that if the doctors would not have inseminated the patients, the ones fighting the case would not be alive. Some strongly promote the belief that there is no gift greater than life, and consequently, the doctors caused no harm or damage. Victims also claim the act to be sexual assault or rape because the doctors had to perform a sexual act to actually commit the fraud. This claim trips up on the technicalities of what rape is in Constitutions, and fertility fraud ends up being something right in the middle of it all. Even genetic tests are not viable enough proof in court, because of the time factor and the culprits masking it as a miscommunication.
Despite the complications and technicalities that refuted fertility fraud as a crime, there is continuous progress on the criminalization of fertility fraud. Updated standards of organizations like ASRM (American Society for Reproductive Medicine) as well as recent laws that have been passed, prevent such crimes from taking place, and help offer justice if they do occur. While past victims may not have received their proper justice, the progress made will help any future victims. While the progress is slow, the gradual awareness on this topic provides us the hope for bona fide justice.
Comments