'Our Father' trailer: Netflix's documentary on infamous fertility doctor
Back in 2018, Dr. Donald Cline, a fertility doctor from Indiana, US, had his license suspended for a shocking reason. The doctor had reportedly impregnated dozens of women at his clinic with his own sperm without their knowledge. Now, in 2022, streaming service giant Netflix will capture the entire episode in the form of a documentary in Our Father. Its trailer was released recently.
- Cline's fraud was discovered in 2014 when Jacoba Ballard took a DNA test and found out, curiously, she had at least seven half-siblings, all of whose mothers were Cline's patients.
- Legal action was then taken against the once well-respected doctor.
- Netflix enjoys a certain level of credibility when it comes to its true-crime documentaries, so we can expect a well-rounded portrayal of this episode.
The two-minute clip opens with Sibling #1 finding out she has multiple close DNA matches online. Sickeningly, she discovers she has dozens of siblings spread across the city all of whom have the Cline association in common. However, the fight isn't easy as the doctor is an authority figure with high-profile connections. More so as there is no exact law against what he did.
Apart from the incident, the documentary attempts to locate the reason behind Cline's actions, too. Footage of him carrying religious books and the mention of a "perfect Aryan clan" might be possible hints. While one of the victims says this must have been a "sick experiment" for the doctor, the last line of the trailer, "He's hiding something more sinister," raises our curiosity further.
A top fertility doctor had a sickening secret: he was using his own sperm. Decades later, his “children” band together to pursue justice.
— Netflix (@netflix) April 14, 2022
Our Father premieres May 11. pic.twitter.com/MWbDtP7eTa
The Blumhouse Productions' project doesn't mention Cline's full name and the makers have likely used an alternative name. But the victims and their testaments, barring certain dramatic recreations, seem genuine from the trailer. Our Father drops on Netflix on May 11. Before this, Cline's story has been adapted into the podcast series Sick. Also, the 2019 FOX series Almost Family had a similar plot.
