INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indianapolis fertility doctor accused of inseminating patients with his own sperm is expected to plead guilty to charges that he lied to investigators. Dr. Donald Cline, 78, who pleaded not guilty last year to two counts
INDIANAPOLIS (AP) — An Indianapolis fertility doctor accused of inseminating patients with his own sperm is expected to plead guilty to charges that he lied to investigators.
Dr. Donald Cline, 78, who pleaded not guilty last year to two counts of obstruction of justice, will appear in court in December for a change of plea hearing.
Attorneys for Cline said Tuesday he plans to plead guilty.
“This is the start of some sort of closure,” said Amber Stafford, whose mother was one of Cline’s patients more than 30 years ago.
Some of the now-adult children of Cline’s former patients filed a complaint with the Indiana attorney general’s office in 2014 after they became suspicious that Cline had inseminated some of his patients with his own sperm.
Cline initially wrote to investigators denying the allegations.
Paternity tests indicate Cline is likely the biological father of at least two of his patients’ children, according to court records. Those children allege online genetic tests show he may be the father of 20 others.
“This wasn’t just a handful of kids or mothers that this happened to that resulted into a handful of children. We’re now into several dozen. And it’s going to continue to grow,” said Matt White, whose mother was also one of Cline’s patients.
No other charges were filed against Cline because Indiana doesn’t specifically prohibit fertility doctors from using their own sperm.
Stafford said she hopes the case will be the catalyst for new laws.
“We want to stop this from happening again because it was wrong on so many levels. Even though there are no laws against it, it was wrong and he needs to own up to what he did and we need to prevent this from happening again,” Stafford said.
Cline retired in 2009.
