A fertility doctor and former Harvard Medical School professor has been accused of using his own sperm to secretly impregnate a patient.
Sarah Depoian, 73, is suing Dr Merle Berger, who founded one of the US’ largest fertility clinics, in Boston.
According to the lawsuit, Ms Depoian claims she was promised the sperm would come from an anonymous donor – but she says a home DNA test suggested otherwise.
A lawyer for Dr Berger said the allegations “have no legal or factual merit” and will be disproven in court.
Ms Depoian says she and her husband first went to see Dr Berger in 1979 to discuss intrauterine insemination.
According to her, Dr Berger told her the sperm would come from a donor “who resembled her husband, who did not know her, and whom she did not know”.
The artificial insemination that Dr Berger performed resulted in a successful pregnancy, and Depoian’s daughter, Carolyn Bester, was born in January 1981.
Earlier this year, Ms Bester conducted a home DNA test and discovered Dr Berger was her biological father, according to the lawsuit.
“We fully trusted Dr Berger,” Ms Depoian said. “It’s hard to imagine not trusting your own doctor.
“We never dreamt he would abuse his position of trust and perpetrate this extreme violation. I am struggling to process it.”
Adam Wolf, a lawyer representing Depoian, said Berger clearly knew what he was doing was wrong.
“Some people call this horrific act medical rape, but regardless of what you call it, Dr Berger’s heinous and intentional misconduct is unethical, unacceptable and unlawful.”
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Full Story: Sky News December 14 2023
