Netflix’s next true crime Our Father tells the creepy story of a former fertility doctor

Netflix has just released the trailer for its latest true crime documentary series, Our Father, and it looks like it could be one of the most shocking and creepy cases to date. The story is what would be everyone’s worst nightmare, and something you can’t even imagine really happened – but it did.

The series explores the case of Donald Cline, a top fertility doctor who had a sickening secret: He was using his own sperm. Decades later, his “children” band together to pursue justice. Here’s everything you need to know about Our Father on Netflix, ahead of its release next month.

via Netflix

Our Father is about former fertility doctor Donald Cline and the dozens of his own children he created

After a woman’s at-home DNA test reveals multiple half-siblings, she discovers a shocking scheme involving donor sperm and a popular fertility doctor in Indianapolis. Jacoba Ballard was an only child, conceived via donor sperm, who always dreamed of having a brother or sister. An at-home DNA test led her to the discovery of not one but seven half-siblings – a number that defied best practices in fertility medicine.

As the siblings set out to learn more about their curious family tree, they soon discovered the sickening truth: Their parents’ fertility doctor, Donald Cline, had been inseminating his patients with his own sperm – without their knowledge or consent. As Ballard and her newfound siblings realised they’ve barely begun to untangle his dark web of deceit, their pursuit of justice lies at the heart of this profoundly unsettling story about an unimaginable breach of trust.

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In the trailer, the siblings can be heard talking about how they are worried of the true scale of the deceit, and they they may have even dated someone who is in fact their half sibling, without ever knowing. “The majority of us live in a 25-mile radius of each other,” Ballard says in the trailer for the documentary. “I walk around, and I can be related to everyone. I dread every new match that comes, but they just keep coming.”

via Netflix

According to The Atlantic, Ballard was one of the first siblings to piece together the details in the story. She told the publication she found her first half-sister on an online forum for donor-conceived children, and they connected over the fact their parents both worked with Cline. When she looked the woman up on Facebook, she was struck by their physical similarities. They then got DNA tests, and soon realised this was just the beginning.

Donald Cline is believed to have fathered over 50 children without consent, in the 70s and 80s. Cline retired from practice in 2009.

The doc follows the criminal investigation into Cline’s actions, his possible motives and the compounding impact of his lies and abuse. It also examines the legalities around fertility fraud. It features experts in reproductive medicine and bioethics, a local news reporter whose investigation led to the criminal investigation into Cline and several of Cline’s other biological children are featured in the documentary and speak out about their individual experiences.

Watch the trailer for Our Father on Netflix here:

Our Father will be available on Netflix from May 11th. For all the latest Netflix news, drops, quizzes and memes like The Holy Church of Netflix on Facebook. 

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