Doctor used his sperm to secretly inseminate woman 34 years ago, Washington lawsuit says
In 1989, Sharon Hayes met with a fertility doctor in Washington for an artificial insemination procedure when she was having trouble getting pregnant with her then-husband, according to her attorney.
Ahead of the procedure, Dr. David R. Claypool, an obstetrician and gynecologist in Spokane County, told Hayes a sperm donor would be chosen based features she preferred, including eye and hair color, a lawsuit filed Oct. 25 in Spokane County Superior Court.
Hayes agreed to undergo artificial insemination under one condition: The sperm donor had to have similar physical characteristics to her husband, according to a complaint.
Claypool promised Hayes the sperm would come from an anonymous donor — such as “college and/or medical students” who looked like her husband — and performed the procedure at least twice before she successfully became pregnant, the complaint says.
But Claypool secretly used his own sperm instead, leading to Hayes giving birth to her daughter, Brianna Hayes, on June 9, 1990, according to the complaint.
“In my years of practice, I’ve never encountered such an outrageous case,” Hayes’ attorney RJ Ermola II, of GLP Attorneys, told McClatchy News in a statement. “Sharon Hayes came to Dr. Claypool at perhaps the most vulnerable time in her life and he betrayed her trust.”
It wasn’t until March 6, 2022, that Brianna Hayes learned through online DNA test results that Claypool is her biological father, the complaint says.
Prior to the discovery, Sharon Hayes chose not to tell her daughter about how she became pregnant with her, describing it as a “difficult decision,” Ermola said in a news release issued by GLP Attorneys.
She did not want “to jeopardize what was a perfectly (healthy) family dynamic,” Emola said.
Now, Sharon Hayes, of Kootenai County, Idaho, is suing Claypool for fertility fraud, medical negligence and more, the complaint shows.
Drew D. Dalton, Claypool’s attorney, declined a request for comment from McClatchy News on Oct. 27.
According to the Seattle Times, which first reported the lawsuit, Claypool is retired and no longer practicing as an OB-GYN.
In the news release, Hayes said Claypool “took advantage of me and my family.”
“I feel distraught to know that my relationship with my daughters, and their relationship with their father, will never be the same,” Hayes said.
With the lawsuit, Ermola and Hayes hope the litigation will lead to criminal charges being brought against Claypool, Ermola told McClatchy News.
“Washington state law is embarrassingly silent about violations like this. The only recourse Sharon had was filing a civil suit,” he said.
‘Claypool’s actions will follow them the rest of their lives’
Claypool required Hayes to pay $100 cash each time the sperm donation was performed, according to the lawsuit.
He’s accused of telling Hayes the money would go directly to the purported donors, who he told her were struggling medical students, Ermola said.
Claypool also intentionally used his own sperm while knowing his physical characteristics were “materially different” from Hayes’ husband’s features, which she had wanted her sperm donor to have, the complaint says.
Claypool is further accused of inseminating several other women without their knowledge, according to the news release.
Hayes’ lawsuit seeks to recover economic and non-economic damages to be determined at trial, the complaint shows.
“When I speak with my client Sharon and her family, it is abundantly clear that the impact of Claypool’s actions will follow them the rest of their lives,” Ermola told McClatchy News.
This story was originally published October 27, 2023 at 5:09 PM with the headline "Doctor used his sperm to secretly inseminate woman 34 years ago, Washington lawsuit says."
.jpg)