Netflix’s Our Father: where is Donald Cline – aka the fertility doctor at the heart of the documentary – now?

Our Father

Credit: Netflix

Under Her Eye


Netflix’s Our Father: where is Donald Cline – aka the fertility doctor at the heart of the documentary – now?

By Morgan Cormack

3 years ago

Netflix’s Our Father is now available to watch on Netflix and as well as seriously unsettling us, we’re left wondering what happened to Donald Cline, the doctor at the heart of it all. 

We always knew that Netflix’s Our Father documentary was going to be a wild ride, and while the story seems ludicrous and difficult to comprehend, it’s important to remember that the case involves very real people and has very real consequences.

Jacoba Ballard did a stellar job of uncovering the truth behind the whole Donald Cline debacle, and if you’ve watched the documentary, you’ll know that there are still many questions circulating as a result of the saga

Will we ever get a straightforward answer to the question around Cline’s intentions? Probably not. But the fact remains that he was a trusted doctor who abused his power in an unimaginable way. 

Our Father

Credit: Netflix

But where is he now?

He’ll undoubtedly know he’s the focus of a popular Netflix documentary, and if his previous form is anything to go by, perhaps Jacoba will have a libel and slander letter coming her way soon.

But in the documentary, we learn that the disgraced fertility doctor was only ever issued with a suspended one-year sentence. He was taken to court – in front of his multiple children – and was essentially let off because it was his first offence and the judge saw no reason to put him in front of a jury.

He pled guilty to two felony counts of obstructing the criminal investigation by lying to investigators about using his sperm.     

Our Father Netflix

Credit: Netflix

He was only ever brought into court because he lied in his letter to the district attorney. Tim Delaney, former prosecutor of Marion County, Indianapolis, told Jacoba that what Cline did to these women cannot be counted as rape or battery. In the documentary, Delaney says: “At the end of the day, there’s just no crime that touches this particular act. That’s our problem.”

It’s a shocking statement and one that will infuriate anyone who watches the documentary. One positive thing to take away is that Cline is now no longer a doctor. He did continue working at his practice until 2009, and in 2018, he surrendered his medical licence to the Medical Licencing Board Of Indiana.

As of now, the location of 80-year-old Cline is unknown, and it’s believed that he’s keeping an incredibly low profile since the details of the fertility scandal came to light.

Our Father is now available to watch on Netflix. 

Images: Netflix

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