A Canadian fertility doctor, Norman Barwin may face a
class action lawsuit in which he is accused of using his own sperm to
inseminate 11 of his clients without their knowledge or consent.
In a statement, Nelligan O’Brien Payne LLP, the law
firm behind the case, said that DNA investigation shows that Barwin is the
biological father in 11 individuals whose parents went to the doctor for
assistance with fertility.
The law firm said it has been in contact with more
than 150 people who have allegedly been “adversely affected” by Barwin’s
fertility practice dating back to the 1970s, according to the statement
released Thursday.
In addition,
the firm said it has been aware of another 51 cases in which the identity of
the biological father remains unknown. Among these cases, 16 individuals who
were to be conceived using their father’s sperm are not a biological match to
their father, while 35 individuals who were to be conceived using anonymous
donor sperm may not be a biological match with the intended donor. The proposed
lawsuit against Barwin was first launched in 2016 by Davina and Daniel Dixon,
an Ottawa couple who turned to the doctor for help in 1989.
Their daughter was born the following year.It took
more than two decades for the couple to discover the dark secret. In 2016, they
underwent a blood test due to concerns over how two parents with blue eyes
could have conceived a daughter with brown eyes.The test result showed their
daughter had type O-positive blood and Daniel had type AB blood, proving it was
impossible that they were father and daughter, reported the Canadian
Broadcasting Corporation in 2016, citing the initial statement of claim.
The law firm said it is finalising the materials for
the certification of the class action and expects the action to be certified in
the coming months. In 2013, Barwin was suspended from practice for two months
after he admitted inseminating four women with the wrong sperm and stopped
practicing the following year. *Xinhua NAN
Canadian fertility doctor Norman Barwin uses own sperm to impregnate women
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Sunday, April 08, 2018
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