$13.4-million settlement proposed in fertility clinic class-action against 'baby god' doctor who used his own sperm

A $13.4-million class-action lawsuit against an Ottawa fertility doctor who used his own sperm to artificially inseminate patients has been certified by an Ontario Superior Court judge, in a first-of-its-kind case. Dr. Bernard Norman Barwin, an Order of Canada recipient who was once revered as a “baby god,” also used the sperm of unknown donors to impregnate dozens of patients. So far, 17 people have discovered Dr. Barwin is their biological father while 83 do not know who their biological fathers are. The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario suspended Dr. Barwin’s practice registration in 2013, before revoking it in June 2019. "While I am aware of a few other doctors in the world who did what Dr. Barwin did, I am not aware of any other class action or settlement like this anywhere else in the world," Peter Cronyn, the lawyer representing the family that launched the suit, told CBC News. Nelligan O’Brien Payne LLP, the Ottawa law firm where Cronyn is a partner, noted on its website that while the court has certified the class action, the settlement itself still needs to be reviewed in a hearing scheduled for Nov. 1, 2021. Read: Northern Health denies allegations in lawsuit over stroke If approved, the claims period will run for another 120 days, allowing any additional plaintiffs to come forward and join the group lawsuit. Claimants—including the women inseminated by Dr. Barwin, their children and former patients who had entrusted their semen to Dr. Barwin—will be eligible for compensation of up to $50,000 each. The settlement will also cover the costs to operate a DNA database that can be searched by former patients and children seeking the identities of their biological father. “This process will permit the comparison of DNA between patients and offspring in a controlled and private database with agreements in place in the event a match is found,” the law firm said on its website. Dr. Barwin’s actions were undetected for years. But in 2016, Rebecca Dixon—whose parents Davina and Daniel were patients of Dr. Barwin’s— was diagnosed with celiac disease. Blood tests revealed she was not the biological offspring of the man she thought was her father. That discovery led to DNA tests as well as to correspondence with another “Barwin baby” who had confirmed, through a paternity test that Dr. Barwin was her father. The Dixons launched a class action suit that same year. Dr. Barwin had claimed that the mix-up was unintentional, explaining that he had used his own semen only to calibrate an automatic sperm counter. The settlement agreement document notes that he continues to dispute and contest the allegations made in the class-action suit. Read: B.C. woman files lawsuit against Northern Health citing medical negligence in son's death

$13.4-million settlement proposed in fertility clinic class-action against 'baby god' doctor who used his own sperm

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