Medical Rape: Lawsuit filed against Boston retired IVF doctor for allegedly secretly impregnating patient with own sperm in 1980

Boston: A shocking case of medical rape has emerged from Boston in Massachusetts where a renowned retired IVF (In vitro fertilization) doctor has been accused of secretly impregnating a patient in 1980. Following this, the daughter of the patient filed a lawsuit on Wednesday in the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts claiming that the patient was promised sperm from an anonymous donor, but instead, the professor used his own sperm.

The retired doctor dragged in the lawsuit is Dr Merle Berger, a former professor at Harvard Medical School and founder of one of the nation’s largest fertility clinics.

The woman who filed the lawsuit, identified as Carolyn Bester had a deep curiosity about her biological origins specifically the family members of the anonymous donor. As a result, she decided to undergo a DNA test, only to be completely taken aback by the shocking revelation after 43 years. 

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According to Associated Press reports, the 73-year-old woman, Sarah Depoian who went to the doctor's clinic in 1980 said she and her husband first went to the now-retired professor of obstetrics, gynaecology and reproductive biology, in 1979 to discuss intrauterine insemination. Depoian said Berger told her the sperm would come from an anonymous donor “who resembled her husband, who did not know her, and whom she did not know,” according to the lawsuit.

The artificial insemination that the doctor performed resulted in a successful pregnancy, and Depoian’s daughter, Carolyn Bester, was born in January 1981. Earlier this year, Bester conducted a home DNA test and discovered Berger was her biological father, according to the lawsuit.

A spokesperson for Harvard Medical School said the doctor was academically affiliated with the medical school, but his primary place of employment was at various Harvard-affiliated hospitals, which the school does not own or operate.

Adam Wolf, a lawyer representing Depoian, said the doctor knew that what he was doing was wrong. “Some people call this horrific act medical rape, but regardless of what you call it, the doctor’s heinous and intentional misconduct is unethical, unacceptable and unlawful,” Wolf told reporters Wednesday.

Meanwhile, a lawyer representing Berger described him as a pioneer in the medical fertility field who in 50 years of practice helped thousands of families fulfil their dreams of having a child.

“The allegations concern events from over 40 years ago, in the early days of artificial insemination,” the lawyer said in a written statement. “The allegations, which have changed repeatedly in the six months since the plaintiff’s attorney first contacted Dr. Berger, have no legal or factual merit, and will be disproven in court.”

A spokesperson for Boston IVF Fertility Clinic, which Berger helped found, said the situation cited in the lawsuit occurred before Berger’s employment at the clinic and before the company even existed.

“The field of reproductive endocrinology and infertility is much different than it was decades ago, and the safety measures and safeguards currently in place would make such allegations virtually impossible nowadays,” the company said in a written statement.

In the lawsuit, Depoian is in part seeking “damages in an amount sufficient to compensate her for her injuries.”

“We fully trusted Dr. Berger. He was a medical professional. It’s hard to imagine not trusting your own doctor,” said Depoian, who lives in Maine. “We never dreamt he would abuse his position of trust and perpetrate this extreme violation. I am struggling to process it.”

Bester said she received DNA results from Ancestry.com and 23andMe as she explored her history earlier this year. The results didn’t show a direct match to Berger but identified a granddaughter and second cousin of his. Bester said she spoke to one of the relatives and started to piece together the puzzle.

“To say I was shocked when I figured this out would be an extreme understatement. It feels like reality has shifted,” said Bester, who lives in New Jersey. “My mom put her trust in Dr. Berger as a medical professional during one of the most vulnerable times in her life. He had all the power and she had none.”

Bester said she told her mother, who then contacted Berger through a lawyer. The lawyer said Berger didn’t deny that Depoian had consented only to insemination with the sperm of a donor who did not know her and whom she did not know, Bester said.

There have been other instances of fertility doctors being accused of using their own sperm to impregnate a patient.

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