Fertility doctor accused of inseminating a woman with his own sperm agrees to pay millions

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A Canadian fertility doctor accused of impregnating women with the wrong sperm – in many cases using his own – has agreed to pay $10 million in damages.

The big settlement was announced Wednesday in a virtual hearing, a law firm representing at least one of the families said. Neljan Law said the settlement was a “pioneer.”

17 people discovered through DNA testing that Dr. Norman Barwin was their biological father after their families sought his help, according to a press release from the law firm. Over 80 others “do not know the identity of their biological father” but have learned that Barwin did not use the sperm he was supposed to use in their conception.

“The class action settlement provides compensation to these patients and their children as the children’s DNA is not what the parents intended at the time of Barwin’s IVF,” the law firm said in a statement. “It also makes reparations to former patients who entrusted Barwin to their semen either for preservation or for a specific intended use, but which Barwin used to inseminate another patient, resulting in offspring.”

Barwin’s lawyer declined to comment when contacted by NBC News on Friday. Barwin has denied the allegations against him and has not admitted wrongdoing in the settlement. He states that he agreed to the settlement because he wanted to avoid spending more time and money fighting the case.

One family, Davina and Danielle Dixon, sued Barwin in 2016 after they discovered through DNA testing that Daniel was not their daughter’s biological father.

According to court documents, the couple went to Barwin in 1989 because they needed help starting a family. After several sessions with Barwin, Davina became pregnant and gave birth to a girl named Rebecca in 1990.

Documents say over several decades, the family believed Daniel to be Rebecca’s biological father. The family didn’t know the truth until 2016.

Documents indicate that Davina was browsing Facebook and saw a post saying that it was unusual for two people with blue eyes to give birth to a baby with brown eyes, which was the case for the family. Davina became “concerned” and called her family doctor to ask for a DNA test, according to court documents. The results showed that there was a zero percent chance that Daniel would be Rebecca’s biological father.

The family began doing research and found media reports on Barwin. The documents say they’ve also started noticing “strange physical similarities” between Rebecca and the doctor.

Rebecca reached out to another woman on Facebook, Kat Palmer, who had already learned that Barwin was her biological father. Documents indicate that Palmer’s parents went to Barwin and requested the use of an anonymous sperm donor.

“They specifically chose an anonymous sperm donor with certain traits and characteristics that were important to them,” the documents say.

Instead, Barwin impregnated Janet Palmer with his own sperm, the documents say.

The allegations against Barwin date back to 1970, during his time at the Ottawa General Hospital and Ottawa Clinic. In other cases, a mother said she received incorrect information about a sperm donor and could not obtain any information about her son’s medical history with learning disabilities.

Another woman said she believed Barwin was using her husband’s sperm but later found out that he was not the biological father of their children.

In 2019, Barwin was declared “incompetent” by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. He quit college in 2014, but it was later canceled and ordered to pay a fine. Barwin has not exercised since 2014.

The court still needs to agree to the settlement, which is worth a total of US$10.7 million, and will review it at a hearing in November.

Minyvonne Burke is a breaking news reporter for NBC News.

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