Netflix sued for ‘outing’ fertility doctor’s secret children without consent in ‘Our Father’ documentary

A federal judge has ruled that a lawsuit filed against Netflix over its 2022 documentary "Our Father" can proceed. The documentary details the life of Indiana fertility doctor Donald Cline, who secretly fathered 94 children. Three of those women who were sired by the doctor claim in the suit that they were outed as his "secret children," despite not permitting Netflix to do so. According to the complaint, the unauthorized disclosure caused the plaintiffs "reputational injury, emotional distress, embarrassment, and emotional trauma."

The three women sued for "public disclosure of private facts." Judge Tanya Walton Pratt issued a summary judgment on Oct. 8 allowing two of the three women to proceed to trial, Variety reported. The third plaintiff was rejected because she had spoken to the press about being one of Dr. Cline's secret children before the documentary was made.

After submitting DNA samples to 23andMe, several adults in Indiana discovered that they were half-siblings. As the days progressed and more DNA samples were submitted to 23andMe, the half-siblings discovered that they had additional half-siblings. It was later determined that Cline was their biological father. The case garnered widespread attention when it broke in 2015, which later led to the enactment of state laws that criminalized "fertility fraud."

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