Victim Advocates Convene In DC Over It’s-About-Time Federal Fertility Fraud Bill

On January 23, Reps. Stephanie Bice (R-Okla.), Mikie Sherrill (D-N.J.), Julia Letlow (R-La.), and Chrissy Houlahan (D-Pa.) introduced the Protecting Families From Fertility Fraud Act. The bill works to establish a new federal crime for knowingly misrepresenting the nature or source of DNA used in any procedure that involves assisted reproductive technology. The surprising part, of course, is that misrepresenting the nature or source of DNA (such as a medical provider purposely using sperm, eggs, or embryos from a person other than whom the patient expected) is not already a clearly established crime!

Over the past decade, it has become frighteningly common for people to find themselves the victims of fertility fraud. Doctor after doctor has been revealed to have been using his own sperm (always male doctors in these cases) to impregnate patients instead of the promised donor sperm or the sperm of the patient’s spouse. The Netflix documentary “Our Father” did an excellent (and horrifying) job documenting the case of Dr. Donald Cline in Indiana. A trusted pillar of his community known for helping women...