Per Mayo Clinic, in vitro fertilization, or IVF is not just one form of treatment, but instead, a series of procedures to successfully treat infertility. During IVF, eggs are harvested from the ovaries of a woman. Those eggs are then inseminated by semen in a test tube. Sometimes that sperm comes from the woman’s partner or a trusted donor. Other times the sperm or egg donor remains anonymous. Once those eggs are successfully fertilized, the embryo is most often transferred back into the mother’s uterus where it develops. From there, new mothers often give birth as they typically would. Depending on the infertility issue at hand, though, an IVF embryo may instead be implanted in a surrogate’s uterus. 

According to Allied Market Research, as IVF treatments have grown increasingly common, so, too has the demand for donated sperm. Ultimately regulated by The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (USFDA), sperm banks screen donors based on age and medical history. Because of this, when women and couples who need donated semen turn to a doctor for help, they have every reason to think what they get can be trusted. As the story of Dr. Cline proves, though, that wasn’t always the case.