South Dakota Makes Fertility Fraud a Felony
South Dakota legislators passed a bill last week criminalizing fertility fraud.
Fertility fraud, or medical rape, occurs when a fertility doctor secretly replaces the intended father’s sperm with his own or that of another donor’s. South Dakota’s HB 1164 makes fertility fraud a felony and creates a way for victims — including children conceived through fraud and men who involuntarily father children — to sue perpetrators.
The South Dakota House and Senate passed HB 1164 in unanimous votes before Governor Larry Rhoden signed the bill into law on March 10.
Fertility fraud doesn’t just constitute medical rape. It deprives parents of their right to raise their biological children and, conversely, children of their right to be known and loved by their biological parents.
But most American states remain poorly equipped to deal with this and the myriad other ethical problems created by modern fertility technologies. According to the U.S. Donor Conceived Council, more than two-thirds of states still have no legislation explicitly criminalizing fertility fraud.
Indiana became the first state to make fertility fraud illegal in 2019, following the trial of former Indiana fertility doctor Donald Cline.
Cline fathered more than 90 children through medical rape during the 1970’s and 80’s. One of Cline’s sons began unraveling the mystery after an at home DNA test showed he was not related to the man he believed to be his biological father.
Netflix documented Cline’s children’s search for justice in the 2022 documentary Our Father.
When Cline went to trial in 2017, Indiana had no law classifying his conduct as a crime. He pled guilty to felony obstruction of justice and paid a $500 fine.
“The charge silenced [Cline’s victims] when it came to their ability to describe the underlying harm to the court,” Jody Madeira, a professor at Indiana University’s Maurer School of Law and one of the experts who testified against Cline, told Netflix’s Tudum.
“The entire narrative got changed,” Madeira expanded. “It became about Cline lying to the state of Indiana and not about these illicit inseminations, not about the medical rape, not about the harm [and] not about the identity issues.”
Identity issues lie at the heart of all ethical problems arising from the rapid, unregulated expansion of fertility technologies.
The biological ties between parents and children are practically and spiritually crucial to a child’s development and identity formation. That’s why Focus on the Family believes children have the right to be raised by their biological mother and father.
While adoption redeems broken relationships between parents and children, surrogacy intentionally separates children from one or more of their biological parents. Babies conceived through in vitro fertilization frequently suffer the same foundational trauma.
“By making fertility fraud a felony, South Dakota affirms a simple truth: a child’s biological identity isn’t anecdotal or interchangeable,” child advocacy organization Them Before Us noted on X.
“Parentage is critical to a child’s humanity and rights; thus, their genetic origins deserve legal protections.”
The Daily Citizen thanks South Dakota legislators for protecting women’s, parents’ and children’s rights by criminalizing fertility fraud. But children and families still need comprehensive, nation-wide protections from unregulated fertility technologies.
Until all states prioritize children’s rights over adults’ desire for children, crimes and abuses like fertility fraud will continue to occur.
Additional Articles and Resources
Florida to Regulate Surrogacy After Pennsylvania Sex Offender Purchases Baby
Male ‘Throuple’ Buys Toddler from Quebec Government
President Trump Acts to Expand Access to IVF
Why Adoption is Beautiful and Surrogacy Isn’t
