Our Father Netflix

2022 - 5 - 12

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Image courtesy of "The Tab"

The disturbing and shocking true story behind Our Father ... (The Tab)

The true story of Netflix documentary film Our Father. The real life events in the case of fertility doctor Donald Cline, Jacoba Ballard and her siblings.

In 2017, Cline was convicted of just two things – hindering the investigation and lying about using his own sperm. She told the publication she found her first half-sister on an online forum for donor-conceived children, and they connected over the fact their parents both worked with Cline. When she looked the woman up on Facebook, she was struck by their physical similarities. Jacoba Ballard was an only child, conceived via donor sperm, and her test helped her discover the shocking scheme. They were trusting their doctor to give them the right advice.” But, it had only helped him get away with it. Our Father’s director, Lucie Jourdan, said in an interview with The Guardian: “It was a very specific directive that you never ever tell your children you had fertility issues or insemination. During this time, DNA testing was not around, so Cline had the assumption he would never be caught out.

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Image courtesy of "CNET"

'Our Father' on Netflix: Lingering Questions From the Documentary ... (CNET)

Here's what to know about disgraced Indiana fertility doctor Donald Cline.

Sibling Matt White suggests in the film that someone must have known that Cline was inseminating women with his own sperm. We learn in the film that Cline has an affinity for the Bible verse "Jeremiah 1:5," and Ballard notes it's "one of the Bible verses Quiverfull uses." It's unclear if Cline is actually the one speaking in the recording. No one in the office? (An actor for Cline is used in other parts of the film to re-create scenes). "They were in fear that other races were infiltrating and the white race would eventually disappear," she says. It's implied in the doc that Cline collected his own sperm just before he inseminated patients. I don't know," he says in the film. She says the Indiana Attorney General's Office sent her emails, she looked up the people who replied and everyone copied on the emails, and through that, she found that "one of the people with the state" had a "Quiverfull" email address. Quiverfull is an ultra-conservative Christian movement mentioned in the film. Cline is currently alive and in his 80s. The Medical Licensing Board of Indiana revoked his license in 2018.

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Image courtesy of "CNN"

'Our Father' review: Netflix documentary urns a fertility doctor's ... (CNN)

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."

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Image courtesy of "The Guardian"

Our Father review – an undeniably gripping tale of a fertility doctor's ... (The Guardian)

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.

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Image courtesy of "Stylist Magazine"

“94 siblings and counting”: the most jaw-dropping moments from ... (Stylist Magazine)

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.

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Image courtesy of "The Indianapolis Star"

Donald Cline's biological daughter: Netflix's 'Our Father' brings ... (The Indianapolis Star)

The film tells the story of Indy fertility specialist, Donald Cline, and how his biological children got justice. It premieres on Netflix May 11.

And I think that everybody has to be honest with themselves on where they are at today and do what's best for them and their family and to give each other grace going through the process." "I have resources (that) I'll be posting for people," she said. "What resulted was a really authentic moment where .... she'd forgotten all this, and she could be in it, and I think that kind of helped with the healing process," Jourdan said. So we're getting that little bit of justice now, and hopefully it brings awareness." "Do you want to find out someday that you married your brother or your sister?" "It's tough and it's hard, but it's reality. When asked what she wants people to take away from the documentary, Ballard emphasized the importance of consent. "It always came from the victim's perspective." Ballard reached out to Ganote back in 2015, asking her to look into the story. "I've taken on that role, and sometimes it is frustrating, overwhelming, but I wouldn't want it any other way. "And he never gave them a choice." Eventually, Ballard and some of her other half-siblings confronted Cline, who admitted to using his own sperm to inseminate patients.

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Our Father viewers all saying the same thing about chilling Netflix ... (HELLO!)

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.

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Our Father on Netflix: Where is Jacoba Ballard now? (The Tab)

Where is Jacoba Ballard from Our Father on Netflix now? The latest on the first sibling who discovered the case of fertility doctor Donald Cline.

Speaking to Women’s Health, she added she still gets a “sick feeling” every time another sibling is discovered and feels as though she is “ruining their life” when she reaches out to explain the case to them. “I actually tried to contact him last year,” she told The Guardian. “I have been sick for two years, and I literally begged him for medical information. Speaking to The Guardian, Jacoba Ballard was asked if Donald Cline had been in contact with her, and she said he had not. On her Instagram and Facebook accounts, Jacoba shares resources for anyone affected by or interested in the topic and says she is there to help anyone who wants to reach out to her. Since the Netflix documentary, Jacoba Ballard hasn’t stopped helping people who have found themselves in the centre of “fertility fraud” and her life is focused on it now. But her discovery wouldn’t be one that lead to joy and a feeling that her dream had come true, because it started her journey of finding out the truth about her family tree.

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Image courtesy of "The Independent"

Our Father: Netflix viewers disgusted by 'sick' fertility doctor in ... (The Independent)

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.

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Image courtesy of "The Indian Express"

Our Father movie review: An unsettling true story gets upsetting ... (The Indian Express)

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.

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What is the Quiverfull cult mentioned in Netflix documentary Our ... (HITC)

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.

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Image courtesy of "The New York Times"

'Our Father' Review: A Doctor's God Complex Revealed (The New York Times)

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.

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Image courtesy of "Radio Times"

Where is Donald Cline now? Netflix's Our Father doctor today (Radio Times)

Donald Cline is the subject of Netflix's latest documentary Our Father. Between 1979 to 1986 Cline secretly inseminated his patients with his sperm.

Once very respected, locals flocked to Cline for fertility treatments, with the hopes of having families of their own. Cline's exact location is unknown, with the doctor, who is now in his 80s, keeping a low profile since the fertility scandal came to light. Once upon a time, Dr Donald Cline was considered to be one of the best fertility doctors in Indianapolis.

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Image courtesy of "TIME"

Netflix's <i>Our Father</i> Tells The True Story of a Fertility Doctor ... (TIME)

Our Father tells the stories of the victims of Dr. Donald Cline, who inseminated patients with his sperm, without their consent.

While the story Our Father depicts is relatively unique, the violation of a person’s ability to choose the circumstances under which they become pregnant, and the lack of legal protection of that ability, are not. The obstruction of justice charges meant that no evidence related to Cline’s actions toward his former patients was admissible—though those actions constituted the injustice for which the siblings and their parents were truly seeking restitution. In 2018, the siblings’ lobbying, led by Matt White and his mother Liz White, contributed to the passing of Indiana’s fertility-fraud law. “I don’t deny that it was a sexual violation, [but] ‘Dr. Cline committed rape,’ is a legal assertion that was not true, and I wasn’t going to put it on paper with my signature,” Tim Delaney, who was working in the prosecutor’s office in 2015, says in the film. Our Father’s main focus is on highlighting the lack of legal recourse afforded to the siblings and their parents. When the county prosecutors finally investigated Cline, the results were disappointing to the siblings, the women he inseminated, and their families. As the siblings waited for authorities to take action, Cline lived as a pillar of the community and an elder of his church, performing baptisms in his backyard swimming pool. He also began obliquely threatening the siblings with retribution should they continue their effort to bring charges against him and take their story public. In a moment when the right to safe and informed reproductive care is under threat in the U.S., Our Father is particularly resonant given the questions it raises about how our legal system views those seeking control over their own reproductive choices, and restitution when that autonomy is violated. He had his staff recite prayers together, advised patients to pray on their treatment choices, decorated his office with Christian sayings, and had an affinity for the verse Jeremiah 1:5 (“Before I formed you in your mother’s womb I knew you.”), which is often featured in material extoling the Quiverfull lifestyle. The number of confirmed siblings continued to grow as more people added their DNA to 23andMe’s database. During the 1970s and ‘80s, a fertility specialist in Indiana named Dr. Donald Cline inseminated dozens of patients with his own sperm, without their knowledge or consent.

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