Over the weekend, D and I had a movie/show/documentary marathon. Basically, we watched a bunch of random shit. There were some real good movies in there, but the one that blew our minds the most had to be the Netflix documentary: Our Father.
Have y'all heard about this yet? If not, go and watch it immediately and come back to discuss.
I'll wait...........
Ok, now that you're back and you've watched it, you agree with me, right? What. In. The. Actual. Fuck?!
After watching this documentary on Netflix, clearly, I am an expert in all things criminal justice right now. I have also decided I am an expert on this case in general (I'm not) and since I live in Indianapolis, we all know that means I can jump inside his crazy little mind and know what he was thinking.... right?!
No?! Fine.
The whole premise is basically this fertility doctor from Indianapolis inseminating multiple women with his own sperm and in turn reproducing over 94+ children (and counting!). He never told these women what he was doing and many of them were under the impression that he had used their actual husbands specimen.
This went on for almost forty years with people believing they had their biological children and fathers together. And the only reason he was caught was because of that whole "23andme" ancestry thing that blows my mind. We've really come a long way with the whole identifying DNA situation.
It started with one and kind of snowballed from there. I can't tell you how horrible I feel for these people. These people were not only mislead (with the exception of the actual doctor), but they were taken advantage of and deceived. There's absolutely no way around that. The women, the children, and even the husbands. Because they're all victims.
I understand that these women wanted to have babies. I understand that when you have any kind of medical procedure performed there are risks and things are out of your hands. HOWEVER, are you really going to sit there and try to justify what this man did?
Not only did he manage to devastate ninety some odd families (I repeat NINETY SOMETHING), but also probably his own, right? His children technically have 94+ half siblings (not including each other) and could very well have been married to one of them. It's a small community and I very much doubt he was going to let someone know what he had done if his child had married another one. He really wanted to keep that shit on the downlow. So, he very well could've just stood by and let that happen. Then again, the way his family and the community rallied around him, it wouldn't be surprising if they're all absolutely fine with it and think he did nothing wrong.
Because nothing says devotion quite like standing by someone even though they are morally and psychologically damaged.
I don't know if this doctor did this as some sort of sick experiment. I don't know if this doctor was trying to give women the families they so desired. I don't know if this doctor thought ahead. I don't know if this doctor read one too many Nazi doctrines or if he is the epitome of religious extremism.
Honestly, I'm not so sure he thought about any of the repercussions to his decisions. By the looks of it and the reaction to the situation, I would go as far as to say no, he doesn't care what he has done. He simply wanted to be the best of the best and didn't care how many people he had to take advantage of or what lengths he had to go to.
Even if he was trying to "do something right" and help these women get pregnant, he did so in about the most disgusting way possible. These women had a choice to go to a medical professional to help with a problem. A doctor that they should have been able to trust and were assured by said doctor that everything was by the book.
WHAT FUCKING BOOK WAS HE USING?!
So yes, these women did have a choice when they decided to get artificially inseminated, but their choice was immediately taken from them under false pretenses. Some of these women were led to believe their husbands and themselves could conceive, they just needed "a little help." The doctor then disregarded the husband's specimen in favor of his own. Umm, what? You're saying that you did this, because you didn't have immediate access to donor specimens, but then you just disregard and throw out what you do have? And then you decide not to mention this to anyone and proceed to continuously lie to these people about a legitimate concern?
How is that NOT a crime? You can't force someone to have sex with you under false pretenses, but you can knowingly get them pregnant with your baby (without their consent- they have channels for this kind of thing so people can still have a choice about whom they procreate with) under the technicality of you being a fertility doctor? The fuck?
And if there's one thing I can't stand, it's someone using their religious beliefs to justify the horrible things that they have done and continue to do throughout their lives. I was raised in the holler. Dead ass center of the Bible belt. I can quote scripture and finish what someone is about to say before they even say it.
They kind of drill that into you as a child.
But, never once in my entire life have I met an actual "God-fearing man" that thinks it's ok to hurt those around him. Especially for his own greed or gain. And honestly, isn't that what this all comes down to?
Strip away the emotional side of it (even though that's incredibly difficult to do) and just look at the facts. The fact is, this man had a reputation for being the absolute best. People flocked to him from miles around. Why? Because of his success rates and word of mouth. How did he come into these results? Well, we all know how he came into those results by now.
By jerking off in a cup next door to his patients and then inserting it into them.
Fucking ew.
I hope he washed his hands.
Now, don't get me wrong, I'm not saying anything negative about anyone (except the doctor, I'm saying all the negative shit about him), but it seems to me that more wasn't done about this simply because people didn't know where to start and were afraid to stand up to a challenge.
People that are supposed to care and uphold our laws just ignored these people and once it was brought to their attention, kind of just went, "eh."
Oh, you don't know how you would bring criminal charges against him for something like this, because it's unprecedented? Guess what? That has literally been the case for every single thing that someone's never been charged with before. That's how laws come to fruition. Or, at the very least, that's what they lead us to believe. I thought with where we were in the world, (excluding the whole Roe vs. Wade situation happening right now) that something like this couldn't happen without consequences.
I mean, we have literally emerged from the "Me Too" movement and for what? So a medical professional can insert his own specimen into a woman's body without her knowledge or consent and essentially be covered by the whole "technicality" of them wanting help with fertility? I swear, if I had a nickel for every time some dude got away with a horrendous crime against a woman on a technicality, I would be a very rich gal.
So yes, difficult and possibly a failure?
Absolutely.
Worth shooting the shot and maybe preventing something like this in the future and at least attempting to get some form of "justice" for the victims?
Abso-fucking-lutely.
Seriously, what is wrong with you people?
Be a fucking pioneer and use that fancy law degree or political position to do something worth while.
And once the children discovered this entirely fucked from the get-go situation, they began receiving threats and were harassed continuously about telling their story, but you want to talk about the media and how they investigate and use their sources to let people know? When a journalist was literally the only person that would listen to this story. They tried every form of government office they could and no one would even respond to them. Who listened?
A Fox 59 news journalist (Angela Ganote) and Dr. fucking Phil. How y'all feeling about that hill you're standing on now?
Sorry, I just can't even get over how insane this whole situation and the response to it is.
Ok, this doctor did get two charges brought against him for lying on paperwork to the government, but that's it? And the first known child couldn't bring up anything "personal" in her testimony, but it was acceptable for people to write in letters to the judge defending this man and saying he's the best and should walk away? How is that not mixing personal with the judicial system? Also, you took his medical license and put him on probation? Dude, the man was already retired and living the cushy life that he afforded from his forty year deception of his patients. How is this justice and how are you still saying he's a good guy? How are people still defending him and others simply standing by?
To say that I'm feeling very uncomfortable as a woman would be an understatement. To say that I'm feeling extremely uncomfortable being a woman in Marion County knowing what someone can do and get away with and no one will even bother to listen or try to help? Worse. And I know it's not only happening (and happened in general) here, but when it's down the street from your house, it feels a whole other level of invasive.
I am not a lawyer. I am not a politician. I am not a genius. But, I do know when something is fucked up and this? This takes the race in this round.
These people could literally be dating or married to their half-sibling. Kids are growing up and could be in relationships with their cousins. There is an entire fallout of this that it doesn't feel like the system took into consideration. I mean, if you know you have an STD and sleep with someone without telling them and they get it, it's a crime. So, how is this not? These people have to live with this and they have absolutely no idea the repercussions that are going to continue for years upon generations to come.
My heart goes out to these people involved. (NOT the doctor). I wish you all the best and I hope that people start using not only their common sense, but also their humanity and start doing something about this. Because this? This is unacceptable.
Fucking people, dude.
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