Ottawa, July 31: A fertility doctor in Canada, who is accused of impregnating with his own sperm through IVF, agreed to pay USD 10 million compensation. The settlement was announced on Wednesday during a virtual hearing. Dr Norman Barwin used to run Broadview Fertility Clinic in Ottawa, was first accused in 2016 when a couple named Davina and Daniel Dixon sued him. In the last five years, more patients came forward and reported against Barwin. Fact Check: Did Hotel Cleaner Steal Sperm from Millionaire’s Used Condom And Win Millions in Child Support Battle, Here’s The Truth!.
Over 200 patients alleged that Barwin used the wrong sperm and, in some cases, even used his own sperm. Nelligan Law firm, representing one of the victims, said that the settlement was groundbreaking. “The settlement of the class action provides compensation to those patients and their children where the DNA of the children is not as was intended by the parents at the time of the artificial insemination performed by Barwin,” reported NBC News quoting the excerpt from the law firm’s statement. Canadian Doctor Accused of Impregnating 11 Women With Own Sperm Through IVF.
According to reports, Barwin also provided compensation to former patients who had kept their semen with the doctor for a specific intended use, but it was used by Barwin in the insemination of another patient. However, Barwin denied all the allegations levelled against him and agreed to the settlement as he did not want to spend more money and time fighting the lawsuit. In 2016, the Dixon family decided to sue Barwin when they discovered through a DNA test that Daniel was not the biological father of their daughter Rebecca. She was born in 1990.
According to a report published in NBC News, a court document mentioned that Davina doubted that Barwin might have used his sperm when she came across a Facebook post stating that it was unusual for people with blue eyes to give birth to a child with brown eyes. The couple then reportedly began noticing “physical resemblance” between Rebecca and the doctor. They searched reports against Barwin on the internet and even connected another woman, who came to know that the Canadian doctor was the biological father of her child.
Notably, in 2019, Barwin was declared impotent by the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario. He reportedly had not practiced since 2014.
(The above story first appeared on Morning Tidings on Jul 31, 2021 08:03 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website morningtidings.com).
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