What does it tell us that so many doctors used their own sperm?
A doctor using his own sperm to inseminate a patient used to be headline news. Now we've heard of dozens. What does it tell us that so many doctors did this?
It's hard to believe it was just five years ago that I broke the story that Norman Barwin, a beloved Canadian doctor, had (allegedly) used his own sperm to inseminate several patients. Barwin was not the first to be outed for this, but, looking back, he was on the early side of what has become quite a trend.
According to Jody Madeira, a law professor at Indiana University, close to 50 doctors have now been implicated. They come from multiple countries and their wrongdoings span decades. It's no longer possible to think of these doctors as lone wolves.
It has made me reflect: what does it tell us that this behaviour was so widespread?
2 minute read
What does it tell us that so many doctors used their own sperm?
that they thought they wouldn't get caught
that when they thought they wouldn't get caught, they did things they wouldn't ordinarily do
that when they thought they wouldn't get caught, they did things that were otherwise unthinkable
that the threat of getting caught is more important than we thought
that the threat of getting caught is more important than we think
that they thought they knew best
that they thought you'd rather have a baby — no matter what
that they thought they didn't have to ask you if that was true
that they thought it was okay to substitute their decision for yours
that they thought it was okay to not tell you they were making your decision for you
that they thought it was okay to deceive you
that they thought what you didn't know couldn't hurt you
that deceiving you felt better than disappointing you
that deceiving you felt better than having you be disappointed in them
that some doctors have trouble accepting failure
that some doctors will go quite a distance to avoid being seen as failures
that some doctors would rather lie than admit failure
that some doctors would rather contravene standards of care than admit failure
that some doctors can convince themselves that lying and deceiving is not failure
that they can keep their lies secret for decades
that they can keep lying about their lies even after DNA evidence says otherwise
that they would rather stay silent than admit wrongdoing
that they would rather stay silent than apologize
that they may not feel remorse
that some doctors masturbate in their offices
that some doctors masturbate in their offices while their patients wait in nearby rooms
that some doctors masturbate in their offices then carry on as though everything is normal
that at least some other doctors probably knew
that those other doctors chose to stay silent rather than out a medical colleague
that self-regulation may not work
that they didn't think about what this might mean for their own families
that they didn't think about what this might mean for their own kids
that they didn't think about what this might mean for the people born as a result
that they didn't think about what this might mean for their patients
that they didn't think about what this might mean for all patients everywhere
that they didn't think about what this might mean for their honest colleagues
that they didn't think about what this might mean
that if they can deceive you about this, they might be willing to deceive you about other things
that if they can't be trusted about this, they can't really be trusted about anything
that the worst thing you can imagine happening — anything — could actually have happened
Related links
Alison Motluk. "Uncommon ancestry." Hazlitt. 2017.
Jacqueline Mroz. "Their mothers chose donor sperm. The doctors used their own." New York Times. 2019
Alison Motluk. "Insemination fraud." HeyReprotech. 2020.
Adrian Horton. "Baby God: How DNA testing uncovered a shocking web of fertility fraud." The Guardian. 2020.
Katie MacBride. "Fertility doctors used their sperm to get patients pregnant. The children want justice. Vice. 2021.