A growing number of people are finding out through DNA testing that instead of being “donor conceived” — the product of an anonymous sperm donation — they were “doctor conceived.” Their mothers’ fertility doctors used their own genetic material to impregnate their patients. And right now, there are few options for parents or children to pursue civil or criminal remedies in these cases. There’s a push to change that in Washington state: A bill making its way through Olympia that would make fertility fraud a crime.
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Traci Portugal lives in Woodinville, and discovered her biological father was her parents’ fertility doctor.
“I don’t think there’s words to really put out there to capture the absolute annihilation of a sense of trust, a sense of who you are, where you came from. Even where you are, your place in this world,” Portugal said.
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[Right to Know co-founder Kara] Rubenstein Deyerin says that she believes when you’re making humans, you don’t have a right to remain anonymous, at least when it comes to your genetic data.
“I think if you agree to make a human, you need to agree to ensure that they have information that they need for their own health and future children’s health.”
