Hi °C | Lo °C Queen’s University medicine graduate Dr Norman Barwin is at the centre of a £1.8m combined claim for damages against him and his Broadview Fertility Clinic in Ottawa.
The veteran doctor, who studied in Belfast in the sixties, is also facing demands for his own sperm to be tested.
Dr Barwin, who went to Ottawa in 1973 and set up his private fertility clinic in the mid-1980s, has denied the allegations made against him.
In a statement of defence he said that “all medical care and treatments provided were carried out in a careful, competent and diligent manner and in accordance with the applicable standard of care”.
In the lawsuits, from the families of two women, they claim that Dr Barwin used a different donor’s sperm without notifying them.
Both women, Trudy Moore and Jacqueline Slinn, say that blood and DNA tests prove that their chosen sperm donors, Trudy’s husband Matthew and Jacqueline’s anonymous donor No 3168, could not actually be the fathers of their children.
Papers have been lodged with Ontario Superior Court seeking a combined $3m in damages for “heightened anxiety, depression and frustration” suffered by the families.
In an extraordinary twist, both statements of claim also ask the court to order a test of Dr Barwin to rule out “the possibility that he is the donor whose sperm was used to inseminate”.
South African-born Dr Barwin completed his medical degree in Belfast and also holds a PhD in women’s medicine from Queen’s University.
The award-winning doctor has been heralded for his work in the field of reproductive health and was honoured with the Order of Canada medal in 1997.
However a 2001 profile revealed that he had failed the pass the exams required for him to become a certified gynaecologist in Canada. He claimed that he never took the time to study for the exams.
His reputation was also tested when it was revealed that he had cheated in two marathons.
His lawyer Karen Hamway said that neither she nor her client were able to talk about the cases because of “patient confidentiality”.
Dr Barwin once said in an interview that his “worst nightmare” involved inseminating a patient with the wrong sperm.
