'Disgraceful' Fertility Doctor Who Used Own Sperm to Inseminate Patients Struck off for His 'Incomprehensible Deception'

A Canadian fertility doctor devastated the lives of families when they found out he had used the wrong sperm, including his own, to impregnate patients without telling them, a medical regulator has heard.

More than a dozen patients were left stunned when they found out about the actions of Bernard Norman Barwin from Ottawa, which spanned decades.

Some patients found out their children were only half-siblings even though they insisted the same donor be used for both. Other men learned that their children were not biologically theirs, CBC News reported.

Rebecca Dixon told the discipline committee of the College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario about her shock at finding out three years ago that Barwin was her biological father and not the man who had raised her.

"There is never any going back from this, it's changed my life forever. I focus on the positive parts but there is no question that's emotionally challenging to ask questions about what does family mean," she told reporters, 680 News reported.

Another woman, identified as Patient M, said Barwin told her that her husband's sperm was being used during fertility treatment, even though he knew it belonged to another man.

"I still felt so violated, I felt dirty, almost as if I'd been raped," she told the committee. Meanwhile, an unnamed man said in a written statement how devastated he was to find out his daughter was biologically Barwin's child.

Lawyer representing the families, Carolyn Silver, told the disciplinary committee: "There is no precedent for the case you have before you.

"Dr. Barwin's patients and their families were the unsuspecting victims of his incomprehensible deception."

Barwin, 80, pleaded no contest but initially claimed that the inseminations were accidental, which the committee ruled as "implausible" 680 News reported.

The committee described Barwin's conduct as "disgraceful" and revoked his medical license and ordered him to pay a fine of $CAN 10,730 ($8,155) within 30 days.

They said they were frustrated that he was not present to hear the verdict.

He could also face a class-action lawsuit from patients which alleges more than 50 children were conceived after their mothers were inseminated with the wrong sperm, including 11 with Barwin's.

Steven Bodley, chair of the panel said: "It is unfortunate that at this time all we can do is revoke your license to practise medicine and ... deliver this reprimand.

"We do, however, take some solace in the fact that you are no longer in a position to cause further harm."