Our Father Netflix

There have been other stories about fertility doctors who abused their positions, and even a short-lived Fox drama built around the idea.

Netflix has enjoyed its share of success with similarly themed and executed fare, "The Tinder Swindler" being a recent example. The sense of violation that this story entails is almost palpable, and "Our Father" certainly conveys that. It's nonetheless remarkable hearing one of the children discuss finding out about being connected to Cline by watching an episode of "Dr. Phil."

Jourdan uses hackneyed techniques, often undermining, and worst yet, trivializing these crimes.

And the obvious reenactments of an actor playing Cline in scenes with the real-life Ballard are strained, at best; amateurish at worst. In this plastic documentary, they’re the only tangible link to reality. For much of the film, the primary question eating at the victims is “why?”—what would drive Cline to inseminate these women? The unnecessary part, however, springs from the sound of a man moaning whenever the number increases. Thanks to popular titles like “Abducted in Plain Sight,” “Making a Murderer,” “The Keepers,” and “ Tiger King,” among many others, Netflix has built a reputation through its true crime documentaries. With its wild twists and turns, the genre has lent itself well to the “win the internet news cycle” of memes and gifs preferred by the streaming giant.

Simple, unbelievable and simply unbelievable. That, roughly, is the arc of Lucie Jourdan's 90-minute Netflix documentary about fertility doctor Donald Cline ...

It gives too little space to the unresponsiveness of the district attorney’s office – alerted by Jacoba early on – and the extraordinary fact that it was impossible to prosecute Cline over what he did to the women because none of that amounted to a crime under the then-current law. The best of the true-crime documentaries that are now strewn across Netflix and other platforms take their stories as starting points, thin ends of wedges with which to crack open wider issues. Her children go to school with the children of another sibling and her husband unknowingly coached them all at softball. The Smiths went to Cline, who had a reputation as the best in what was then the new field of fertility treatment and artificial insemination. The good doctor – and devout Christian, church elder and respected member of the community – told them that medical students were used as donors, each no more than three times to limit any future problems with consanguinity (the medical term for unwitting siblings later having children together). The couple went ahead and nine months later Jacoba was born. That, roughly, is the arc of Lucie Jourdan’s 90-minute Netflix documentary about fertility doctor Donald Cline, who spent 30 years secretly using his own sperm to impregnate the women who came to him for treatment.

Our Father, on top of having a viral trailer, was always going to grab people's attention. A renowned fertility doctor – Donald Cline – inseminating women with ...

You know how we said earlier that Jacoba is one of our favourite parts of the documentary? It’s safe to say that Cline was far from being in the best shape and it’s a chilling fact that stays with you after watching. In the documentary, Delaney says: “At the end of the day, there’s just no crime that touches this particular act. And just when you don’t think you can take another twist, we learn that Cline was actually Alison’s fertility doctor too. With Cline never having given an explanation – apart from the fact he wanted to help “desperate women” – for his actions, the siblings are left to consider what made the fertility doctor act in such a way. It is also the popular scripture of the Quiverfull cult movement, a conservative Christian group that ultimately believes that large families are a blessing. Taking her case to Fox59 news and the district attorney, Jacoba was told by Tim Delaney, former prosecutor of Marion County, Indianapolis, that it cannot be counted as rape or battery. Likewise, Dianna had to tell her husband that Julie is not his biological daughter, although his sperm was supposed to have been used. Of course, Donald Cline inseminating women with his own sperm is the most shocking part about this entire film, but just when you thought it could get any worse, it does. Her mother, Dianna Kiesler, thought that Jacoba’s case didn’t apply to Julie because Dianna always thought she was inseminated with her husband’s sperm. As well as being a shocking film, it underlines the ever-important topic of women’s rights, fertility and malpractice. Our Father, on top of having a viral trailer, was always going to grab people’s attention.

The new programme tells the story of leading fertility doctor Donald Cline, who covertly inseminated many of his female patients and fathered over 50 children ...

Other viewers were left stunned by the extent of Donald's deceit, with one person tweeting: "#OurFather has to be the craziest documentary I've watched in a while," while another added: "Wow. #OurFather on Netflix was a crazy and wild ride. I'm sick to my stomach," while another added: "#OurFather has to be one of the most disturbing things I've ever watched. One person wrote: "#OurFather documentary on Netflix has to be one of the most evil true story documentaries I have ever seen.

The film, released on Wednesday (11 May), introduces Jacoba Ballard who discovered she had seven half-siblings after taking an at-home DNA test.

That judge should be ashamed of themselves, what a slap in the face!” This isn't consensual, it's a violation and sexual assault. “Watching Our Father on Netflix and I am so disgusted!” one viewer said.

A small-town doctor with a God complex secretly impregnated dozens of unsuspecting women under the guise of using donor sperm. His crimes were uncovered ...

There is, however, a sense that it could have taken more time in exploring the human fallout of this story. Starting a family was all that they wanted, and Cline was just the man who could help them out. Dr Cline, his old assistant says in the film, had assured his patients that the same donor would not be used for more than three samples, so as to avoid the ethically reprehensible scenario where a bunch of people with the same father were occupying a small geographical area.

Netflix's 'Our Father' recounts the case of Indianapolis doctor Donald Cline, who used his own sperm to impregnate dozens of women. Where is he now?

The documentary points out that there is no federal law to make illicit donor insemination illegal. According to DNA data collected through 23andMe, Cline used one donor at least eight times, resulting in eight biological siblings born between 1979 and 1986. One of these siblings, Jacoba Ballard, started to piece together the deception after she began looking for her half siblings. Cline opened his clinic in 1979, when infertility practice was still a new—and relatively unregulated—medical specialty. And he did it over and over and over again.” As one victim’s daughter explained during an interview for the documentary: “It’s disgusting to sit there and lay in bed at night and wonder if the person that created you is some racist bigot, and he used my mom as a pawn.

The true story behind Netflix's documentary Our Father and Donald Cline, including where the disgraced fertility doctor is now.

Here's the true story behind Netflix's new documentary, Our Father. Yep, the story is wild. As a result, it saw the former doctor fathering at least 50 children throughout the 1970s and '80s.

We explain what the cult-like movement is, reveal how many children the subject of Our Father, Dr Donald Cline, fathered during his time as a fertility doctor, ...

Happy is the man that hath his quiver full of them.” There’s also quite a few who live within minutes of Cline. I walk around and I could be related to anyone.” Directed by Lucie Jourdan, Our Father sees Jacoba Ballard lead the documentary as she uncovers the truth about her parents’ fertility doctor.

A new documentary tells the story of siblings who unite to bring to justice the fertility specialist who impregnated their mothers with his sperm without ...

The last sibling interviewed in “Our Father” is No. 61. But it is the siblings — their anguish and their anger, as well as the compassion they extend to one another — that drive the narrative. Cline’s deception upends the lives of his unsuspecting patients’ children, and the film is rife with harrowing insights about medical malfeasance and God complexes.