Have you ever watched the Australian drama Sisters? It's basically about a young woman who's father is a very prominent fertility expert and on his death bed he confesses that, over the years, he used his own sperm in hundreds of the IVF treatments.
She does a DNA test and discovers a huge amount of siblings, mostly brothers, and just two sisters. The scandal rocks her world and that of her family making for a great fictional drama.
Now imagine that it's real and you have the Our Father documentary on Netflix.
Netflix are no strangers to shocking documentaries but Our Father is simply mind blowing.
The whole situation came to light when Jacoba Ballard, an only child conceived via donor sperm, did a home DNA test hoping to find a sibling.
That led to discovery of seven half siblings, a very big anomaly when it comes to best practises in fertility medicine.
However, when those siblings got together the made a horrifying discovery. Their collective biological father was non other than their parents fertility doctor Donald Cline who had been inseminating his female patients with his own sperm, without their knowledge or consent.
As the half siblings delved deeper into their curious family tree they began to untangle his dark web of deceit and discovered his sick experiment. Cline was creating his own perfect aryan clan made up of children with blonde hair and blue eyes.
And just when they thought it couldn't get any worse, it did. What Donald Cline did was not illegal. Sure, the fertility doctor was illegally artificially inseminating the mothers, which is a parents worst nightmare but there is just no crime there.
If you can believe it, what he did is not an actual crime. After the investigations, Cline was given a one-year suspended sentence after pleading guilty to two counts of obstruction of justice.
He was not charged any further as there was no law in Indiana that touches this particular act or specifically prohibits fertility doctors from using their own sperm.
Is Our Father Worth Watching?
Our Father details a profoundly unsettling story. The ramifications for the half siblings, their families and their lives is still ongoing.
Fertility doctor Donald Cline caused unimaginable pain for each child, both their parents and extended families.
As you can see from the Our Father trailer, each person who discovers they are part of this true story has had their lives turned upside down. The DNA tests keep coming, the matches keep coming and walking down the street they don't even know who they are related to.
It's another fantastic documentary from Netflix that exposes this unimaginable breach of trust and attempts to make Cline accountable for his actions.
Our Father Documentary Release Date
Our Father is exclusive to Netflix and it has now been confirmed that it will be premiered on May 11th 2022.