July 30 (UPI) — A fertility doctor who used the wrong sperm — in some cases, his own — to impregnate at least 100 women in Canada, has agreed to settle a class-action lawsuit for $10 million.
Norman Barwin admitted to no wrongdoing as part of the settlement, which was announced Wednesday by a law firm representing some of the clients, Nelligan Law.
The lawsuit, initially filed in 2016 by the Dixon family, accused Barwin of artificially inseminating Davina Dixon with his own sperm, not that of her husband, Daniel Dixon, in 1989. DNA testing performed in 2016 uncovered that Daniel Dixon was not the biological father of the couple’s daughter, Rebecca Dixon.
Since that lawsuit was filed, other former patients of Barwin have come forward with similar accusations.
Of the patients involved in the lawsuit, 17 were discovered to be the biological children of Barwin, while 83 don’t know the identity of their biological father.
The $10 million settlement will be split among the families, as well as patients who had given Barwin their semen which was later used for the unintended artificial insemination of another patient. It will also fund a DNA database to assist former patients to potentially determine their biological fathers or children.
