An Oregon doctor filed a $ 5. 25 million lawsuit Wednesday against a fertility clinic at the Oregon Health & Science University for being “incredibly irresponsible” with his sperm.
Dr. Bryce Cleary, 53 , alleges that the OHSU clinic used his 1989 sperm donation to father at least 17 children — some who live in his area — despite him making an agreement with the clinic at the time that his sperm would be used for no more than five children, all born to women living out of the state.
Dr. Cleary, who lives in Corvallis, learned that at least two of his unexpected biological children conceived through the clinic have attended the same schools, as well as church and social activities, as some of the children he has with his wife — three sons and an adopted daughter.
“The idea that you can produce that many children from one donor and throw them all in the same region? ”Cleary said inan emotional statement at a news conference. “There has got to be some reforms. I can’t control an industry, but I can sure stand up and say, ‘This isn’t cool.’”
Dr. Cleary says he only began to learn of his numerous biological offspring in March of 2018, when two of his biological daughters contacted him. The two women said they were able to identify him with the help of Ancestry.com as well as “specific and substantive information” from the clinic, according to the lawsuit.
Money and numbers
The discovery prompted Dr. Cleary to send his DNA to Ancestry.com, which led him to uncover fifteen other children. Most of them live in Oregon and he has now met three of them. In the press conference, he noted that there may be even more children.
A spokesperson for OHSU released a statement saying only that “OHSU treats any allegation of misconduct with the gravity it deserves. In light of our patient privacy obligations and the confidentiality of protected health information, we cannot comment on this case. ”
At the news conference Wednesday, Dr. Cleary sat next to one of his biological children conceived through the clinic, 25 – year-old Allysen Allee, who lives in Vancouver, Oregon. Allee said she didn’t plan on suing OHSU but was disturbed by the case.
“It feels like OHSU really didn’t take into consideration the fact that they were creating humans,” she said. “They were reckless with this, and it feels like it was just money and numbers to them.”
Dr. Cleary said he only donated his sperm 30 years ago after the clinic solicited him and his fellow first-year medical school classmates, offering $ 40 for a donation.
In his lawsuit, filed in Multnomah County Circuit Court, Cleary says he is “profoundly distressed” and is grappling with the “Moral, legal, ethical, and personal obligations” to his many children.
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