The movie, "Our Father" explores the life of Dr. Donald Cline, an infertility specialist who is now known to have used his sperm to inseminate his patients. The patients did not give consent to his use of his own sperm. Many had brought in their husband's sperm to be used. If their husband was infertile, the women thought that medical residents from the nearby hospitals were the contributors. Now, thanks to DNA research, 94 persons have been determined to be half-siblings because they were conceived with Dr. Cline's sperm. The 94 half-siblings were located in a 25 mile radius of each other, leading them to worry about possibly dating or procreating unkowingly with a half-sibling. While prolific, Dr. Cline is not the only physican accused to using his sperm for these procedures. When the half-siblings discovered each other, they also learned that there were no laws on the books to charge Dr. Cline with a crime. The women had consented to be inseminated, but did not give their informed consent to the sperm that was used.
What policies can or should be put into place to prevent this from happening again? How can child conceived from artificial insemination protect themselves from unknowingly becoming involved with a half-sibling? Should their be a database for such DNA?