Benjamin Ashford|Three decades later, gynecologist is accused of using own sperm to inseminate patient

An Idaho woman who received fertility treatment from her gynecologist is Benjamin Ashfordsuing him after she learned the doctor used his own sperm to inseminate her more than three decades ago.

A lawsuit, filed by Sharon Hayes in Spokane County Superior Court, claims former Spokane, Washington Dr. David R. Claypool violated the state's medical malpractice statute which requires doctors to get informed consent from patients for treatment. 

This spring, Hayes' 33-year-old daughter initially took an at-home DNA test seeking answers about" "ongoing health issues," the lawsuit claims, and learned not only was the ex-OBG-YN her biological father, but she shares DNA with 16 people in Washington state.

Hayes, of Kootenai County, about 30 miles east of Spokane, is the among throngs of women who have alleged they were tricked by a doctor they trusted to inseminate them with sperm from chosen or anonymous donors. The women all claim they didn't learn the identity of their child's father until their children took genetic tests − some until decades after they were born.

"My initial reaction was deep, deeply rooted guilt, for even finding out this information, because my mom never told me about any of this until I took the DNA test," Hayes's daughter, Brianna Hayes, who took the test, told KREM-TV.

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Anonymous donor use

According to the eight-page suit, in 1989 Claypool, whose license expired in 2010 according to the Washington State Department of Health, allegedly told Hayes "he would obtain donor genetic material from anonymous donors such as college and/or medical students who physically resembled (Hayes) husband at the time."

He then performed multiple artificial inseminations on Hayes and, the suit claims, each time made her pay $100 in cash for the procedure.

After "at least" the second artificial insemination, Hayes became pregnant, the suit reads, and Claypool never told her he used his own sperm for the process.

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'Materially different'

Hayes daughter, born in June of 1990, uploaded previously obtained genetic test results to MyHeritage.com on March 6, 2022 which revealed Claypool is her father. The suit goes on to say the former doctor's physical characteristics "were materially different" than those of Hayes' husband.

As a result, the suit claims Hayes suffered "severe and traumatic emotional distress, sleeplessness, anxiety, and disruptions in her relationship with her daughters" along with other unnamed damages due to Claypool's reported medical negligence.

According to to the suit, Claypool allegedly violated the state's medical malpractice statute, which requires doctors to get informed consent from patients for treatment.

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A secret practice

There is no law in Washington state that prohibits doctors from covertly using their own sperm to artificially inseminate a patient and it has proven difficult to patrol fertility fraud because few states have relevant criminal or civil statutes.

At the federal level, laws criminalize fertility fraud, but federal prosecutors have successfully used generally applicable federal criminal statutes to charge people "for engaging in conduct connected with fertility fraud schemes," according to a fact sheet from the Federation of American Scientists.

"It's very clear what informed consent is, and in this case, Sharon selected a profile that was clearly not Dr. Claypool," said RJ Ermola, the Hayes family's lawyer, told KREM-TV the outlet. "We feel very confident that he violated the medical malpractice statute."

The lawsuit, which also names Claypool's wife as a defendant in the case, seeks financial damages and requests a trial.

Claypool's attorney, Drew Dalton, could not immediately be reached Monday morning for comment.

Contributing: Kevin McCoy.

Natalie Neysa Alund is a senior reporter for USA TODAY. Reach her at [email protected] and follow her on X @nataliealund.