What is the Donald Cline documentary Our Father about?

Our Father is an upcoming true crime documentary film coming to Netflix. The initial trailer debut for this stomach-churning film had social media buzzing over the assertions and the true story of former fertility doctor Donald Cline.

Cline was a popular Indianopolis-based doctor and avid churchgoer beloved by his local community. He was married, and well-liked by his patients. So imagine the shock when one woman uncovered a horrifying a shocking scheme involving donor sperm and the popular fertility doctor. Cline had been replacing donor sperm with his specimen during the insemention process.

When confronted, Cline admitted to doing it a few times, but the actual number of times he inseminated patients without their consent using his own sperm is staggering. Jacoba Ballard is at the center of this doc as one of Cline’s children who found out her connection after she did an at-home ancestry test. Jacoba soon discovered she had multiple half-siblings in the area, and they all linked back to the same man.

What is the Donald Cline documentary Our Father about?

As mentioned above, the documentary focuses on Cline and how he managed to assault all of these women throughout his career, and worse, he all but got away with it. Jacoba and her siblings united with the hopes of trying hold Cline accountable for his actions, and this film documents their story. The film gives the affected families the chance to speak out and detail the horror Cline put them through.

Our Father is directed by Lucie Jordan in her directorial documentary debut. Jordan previously served as the showrunner on MSNBC’s Sex Slaves: Texas Rescue, cementing her love for the investigative genre. Blumhouse founder and CEO Jason Blum (who has been nominated for three Academy Awards and has won multiple Emmy and Peabody Awards), serves a producer on the project.

Here is the official synopsis, courtesy of Netflix:

"Jacoba Ballard was an only child, conceived via donor sperm, who always dreamed of having a brother or sister. An at-home DNA test led her to the discovery of not one but seven half-siblings – a number that defied best practices in fertility medicine. As the group set out to learn more about their curious family tree, they soon discovered the sickening truth: Their parents’ fertility doctor had been inseminating his patients with his own sperm – without their knowledge or consent. As Ballard and her newfound siblings realized they’ve barely begun to untangle his dark web of deceit, their pursuit of justice lies at the heart of this profoundly unsettling story about an unimaginable breach of trust."

Check out the trailer for Our Father below:

Our Father will release on Netflix on May 11, 2022.

Make sure to stay tuned to Netflix Life for more information and updates on true crime content!