Netflix is looking into one of the most scandalous cases in recent US history in the new documentary Our Father.
The one-off film tells the story of several people in Indianapolis who discovered through DNA testing that they had more than 50 half-siblings because fertility doctor Donald Cline had secretly inseminated his patients with his own sperm.
So, who exactly is Cline, and where is he today?
As the documentary come to Netflix, here’s everything you need to know about Donald Cline.
Who is Donald Cline?
Donald Cline is a former fertility doctor who worked in the Indianapolis area.
Once very respected, locals flocked to Cline for fertility treatments, with the hopes of having families of their own. Unbeknownst to them, Cline was swapping donor sperm that he was supposed to inseminate patients with for his own.
This resulted in Cline fathering what is now believed to be more than 50 children from 1979 to 1986, with the doctor only stopping as the AIDS crisis worsened.
Our Father follows Jacoba Ballard, who after searching for the truth of her origin as a donor baby, discovered dozens of half-siblings whose mothers went to Cline’s fertility clinic.
Where is Donald Cline today?
Cline’s exact location is unknown, with the doctor, who is now in his 80s, keeping a low profile since the fertility scandal came to light.
A lot of his inseminations took place a long way before DNA testing became widely available, which made it difficult to catch Cline, and as there were no state laws that criminalised what he did at the time, Cline never spent any time behind bars for his actions.
He pleaded guilty to two felony counts of obstructing the criminal investigation into his actions for lying to investigators about using his sperm and was given a one-year suspended sentence.
He continued working at his practice all the way until 2009, and in 2018, he surrendered his medical licence to the Medical Licensing Board of Indiana.
The board also voted to bar him from practising ever again.
Our Father arrives on Netflix on Wednesday 11th May. Check out more of our Entertainment and Documentaries coverage or visit our TV Guide to see what’s on tonight.
