Boston , December 14: In a bizarre case a woman in US is suing a veteran fertility doctor Merle Berger for secretly impregnating her with his own sperm for over 40 years ago. Sarah Depoia a former patient of Berger claimed that despite having assurances from the doctor that the sperm would come from an anonymous donor, he impregnated her with his own sperm. Sarah Depoian is suing Dr Merle Berger, a founder of the Boston IVF and a former professor at Harvard medical school for fraud and other claims in court, seeking damages.

According to a report from The Guardian, Depoian and her husband initiated treatment with the doctor in 1980. Depoian's daughter, Carolyn Bester was born the following year.  A civil claim filed in US district court in Boston on Wednesday, December 13, said Bester discovered that Berger is his real father after she took a DNA test at home this year. US Shocker: Two School Teachers Charged With Engaging in Sex Acts With Students in Alabama.

After the tests, Bester, currently 42, discovered that she was related to Berger's granddaughter and second cousin. Subsequently, through conversations with these newfound relatives, she got to know that she was Berger's daughter. Carolyn Bester said it was "shocking and horrible" to learn that Berger was her real dad. US Shocker: Daughter Hits Mother With Frying Pan, Stabs Her Nearly 30 Times After Being Kicked Out of College; Found Guilty of Murder.

Depoian in her statement said that she was utterly shocked by the turn of events and felt betrayed. "This is an extreme violation. I am still struggling to process it. I trusted Dr Berger fully. We thought he would act responsibly and ethically", she said in her statement released by her lawyers. She further asserted that she would not have agreed to the fertility treatment had Berger been transparent about his intention to use his own sperm for the insertion into her body.

Depoian’s attorney Adam Wolf said that Berger didn't deny the charges. However, Berger’s attorney refuted the claims and stated the allegations had “changed repeatedly” in the six months since he was first contacted and “had no legal or factual merit and would be disproven in court”.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Dec 14, 2023 07:33 PM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).