{"id":301219,"date":"2023-11-07T14:42:09","date_gmt":"2023-11-07T20:42:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.liveaction.org\/news\/?p=301219"},"modified":"2023-11-07T09:28:38","modified_gmt":"2023-11-07T15:28:38","slug":"doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/","title":{"rendered":"Doctor used his own sperm to impregnate fertility patient: ‘I felt like a science experiment’"},"content":{"rendered":"
<\/div>

An Idaho woman is suing<\/a> a fertility doctor she used 34 years ago, alleging that he used his own sperm to impregnate her.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n

Sharon Hayes of Hauser, Idaho, said she sought fertility services from Dr. David R. Claypool in Spokane, Washington, in 1989 after she had experienced trouble conceiving. Hayes allegedly told Claypool she wanted to use an anonymous sperm donor, and said she paid $100 cash for several treatments. Hayes said she picked criteria that she wanted for her donor \u2013 for example, she wanted him to look like her then-husband \u2013 and was told that the sperm would come from a college student.<\/span><\/p>\n

Last year, Hayes\u2019 3<\/span>3-year-old daughter Brianna Hayes was compelled to take a DNA test in the hopes of connecting with her biological parent and finding answers to some of the medical problems she was experiencing. After getting her results from the service 23andMe, she learned that Clayton was her biological father.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI couldn\u2019t believe it,\u201d Sharon<\/span>\u00a0said after learning of her daughter\u2019s results. <\/span>\u201cI was sick. I felt like a science experiment.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

In her <\/span>lawsuit<\/span><\/a>, Sharon maintains that Claypool violated a<\/span> state medical malpractice statute that requires doctors to obtain informed consent from patients for treatment when he failed to get consent to use his sperm rather than that of an anonymous donor.<\/span><\/p>\n

READ: \u2018Handmaid\u2019 epidemic: How renting wombs creates a class of \u2018breeders\u2019 for the elite<\/a><\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Brianna said she has had difficulty accepting her newfound knowledge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI went through an identity crisis,\u201d she <\/span>said<\/span><\/a>. \u201cIt\u2019s ongoing. I\u2019ve had to come to terms with the idea that someone committed this act against my mom. And that I\u2019m a product of it.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

According to The Seattle Times<\/a>, she felt so traumatized by the whole experience that she quit her job and ended her engagement. She moved from New Mexico so she could be with her mother in Idaho. The stress even landed her in the emergency room. She said while she was happy to find a number of half-siblings she had not known existed, she often feels guilt about taking the DNA test in the first place, saying, \u201cThis has rocked our world.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

While shocking, the family’s story is not unfamilia<\/a>r. In recent years there have been a number of incidents in which fertility doctors have been discovered to have fathered children while mothers were under the impression that they were receiving someone else’s sperm, like the Dutch gynecologist who fathered<\/a> at least 21 children, or the Detroit doctor who fathered hundreds of children<\/a>. Because the infertility industry has been widely unregulated in previous decades, there are many people today who have had their lives upended with the knowledge that their biological parents were not who they thought.<\/span><\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

An Idaho woman is suing a fertility doctor she used 34 years ago, alleging that he used his own sperm to impregnate her.\u00a0 Sharon Hayes of Hauser, Idaho, said she sought fertility services from Dr. David R. Claypool in Spokane, Washington, in 1989 after she had experienced trouble conceiving. Hayes allegedly told Claypool she wanted […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":607,"featured_media":221659,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false},"categories":[4,3473],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"\nDoctor used his own sperm to impregnate fertility patient: 'I felt like a science experiment'<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"An Idaho woman is suing a fertility doctor she used 34 years ago, alleging he used his own sperm to impregnate her.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Doctor used his own sperm to impregnate fertility patient: 'I felt like a science experiment'\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"An Idaho woman is suing a fertility doctor she used 34 years ago, alleging he used his own sperm to impregnate her.\u00a0\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Live Action News\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2023-11-07T20:42:09+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2023-11-07T15:28:38+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/GettyImages-1185872706-gynecologist.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1196\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"650\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"Bridget Sielicki\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@liveaction\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Bridget Sielicki\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Bridget Sielicki\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f\"},\"headline\":\"Doctor used his own sperm to impregnate fertility patient: ‘I felt like a science experiment’\",\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-07T20:42:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-07T15:28:38+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/\"},\"wordCount\":466,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"articleSection\":[\"Issues\",\"Newsbreak\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/\",\"name\":\"Doctor used his own sperm to impregnate fertility patient: 'I felt like a science experiment'\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2023-11-07T20:42:09+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2023-11-07T15:28:38+00:00\",\"description\":\"An Idaho woman is suing a fertility doctor she used 34 years ago, alleging he used his own sperm to impregnate her.\u00a0\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"Doctor used his own sperm to impregnate fertility patient: ‘I felt like a science experiment’\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"name\":\"Live Action News\",\"description\":\"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues\",\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\"},\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Organization\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization\",\"name\":\"Live Action\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/\",\"logo\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png\",\"width\":701,\"height\":710,\"caption\":\"Live Action\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/\"},\"sameAs\":[\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction\",\"https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/\",\"https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/\",\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms\"]},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f\",\"name\":\"Bridget Sielicki\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"Bridget Sielicki\"},\"url\":\"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/bridget-sielicki\/\"}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"Doctor used his own sperm to impregnate fertility patient: 'I felt like a science experiment'","description":"An Idaho woman is suing a fertility doctor she used 34 years ago, alleging he used his own sperm to impregnate her.\u00a0","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"Doctor used his own sperm to impregnate fertility patient: 'I felt like a science experiment'","og_description":"An Idaho woman is suing a fertility doctor she used 34 years ago, alleging he used his own sperm to impregnate her.\u00a0","og_url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/","og_site_name":"Live Action News","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","article_published_time":"2023-11-07T20:42:09+00:00","article_modified_time":"2023-11-07T15:28:38+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1196,"height":650,"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/04\/GettyImages-1185872706-gynecologist.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"Bridget Sielicki","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_creator":"@liveaction","twitter_site":"@liveaction","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"Bridget Sielicki","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/"},"author":{"name":"Bridget Sielicki","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f"},"headline":"Doctor used his own sperm to impregnate fertility patient: ‘I felt like a science experiment’","datePublished":"2023-11-07T20:42:09+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-07T15:28:38+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/"},"wordCount":466,"publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"articleSection":["Issues","Newsbreak"],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/","name":"Doctor used his own sperm to impregnate fertility patient: 'I felt like a science experiment'","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website"},"datePublished":"2023-11-07T20:42:09+00:00","dateModified":"2023-11-07T15:28:38+00:00","description":"An Idaho woman is suing a fertility doctor she used 34 years ago, alleging he used his own sperm to impregnate her.\u00a0","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/doctor-sperm-fertility-lawsuit\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"Doctor used his own sperm to impregnate fertility patient: ‘I felt like a science experiment’"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#website","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","name":"Live Action News","description":"Covering Human Rights, Abortion, & Pro-Life Issues","publisher":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization"},"potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":"required name=search_term_string"}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Organization","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#organization","name":"Live Action","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","contentUrl":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/06\/Live-Action-Logo-Black.png","width":701,"height":710,"caption":"Live Action"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/logo\/image\/"},"sameAs":["https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/twitter.com\/liveaction","https:\/\/www.instagram.com\/liveactionorg\/","https:\/\/www.pinterest.com\/LiveActionFilms\/","https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/user\/LiveActionFilms"]},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/354818e37fca891455094342cfaacf2f","name":"Bridget Sielicki","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/9cf04f4b8f1370c0d4ec72e4c6913a37?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"Bridget Sielicki"},"url":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/author\/bridget-sielicki\/"}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301219"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/607"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=301219"}],"version-history":[{"count":7,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301219\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":301248,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/301219\/revisions\/301248"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/221659"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=301219"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=301219"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/archive.liveaction.org\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=301219"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}