The people suing Dr. Burton Caldwell in New Haven, Connecticut are Janine Pierson and her mother.
Pierson, 36 years old, shared with The Hill that she was an only child and her parents had to undergo infertility treatment in the 1980s to give birth to her. Pierson’s entire family has long believed that the doctor used her father’s sperm to inseminate her mother.
In 2022, when curious to know about his father’s descendants and blood relatives, Pierson took a DNA test from the 23andme ancestry, relative and health information identification service. She was extremely surprised to discover that she had 19 half-brothers and sisters when she received the results.
Pierson was skeptical at first, but subsequent validation efforts proved 23andme’s results were accurate. The number of her half-brothers and sisters recently found has now reached 22, of which the oldest is 50 years old and the youngest is 35 years old.
A week later, Pierson said, one of her half-sisters reached out. Through conversation, she learned that this sister’s mother and other women had all gone to Dr. Caldwell’s facility in New Haven for infertility treatment.
Pierson then called her mother and had the “hardest conversation” of her life. Mother and daughter then sued Dr. Caldwell for arbitrarily using his sperm to inseminate the patient without their notice or consent.
Angela Mattie, a professor at Quinnipiac University’s School of Business and Medicine, called such cases “egregious” and “immoral.” However, she noted, the US currently has no laws against it at the federal level or in the state of Connecticut.
“Brothers, sisters, and brothers from the same father or mother from another mother, without knowing it, can marry each other and have children, causing unpredictable consequences. It’s time we do something about this problem.” Professor Mattie said.
Pierson also noted that the consequences of insemination fraud have been devastating. She revealed that she recently learned that her two half-brothers and sisters accidentally dated in high school and had an intimate relationship with each other.
Pierson went to see Mr. Caldwell, who is now over 80 years old and stopped practicing in 2004. He admitted that he had illegally used his sperm to inseminate patients, and even asked her about her grades while studying at the university. university as well as how many grandchildren he has. The US court has not yet announced the trial date for the case.
(Source: Vietnamnet)
