Connecticut woman inadvertently slept with her half-brother while unaware of her 23 siblings as her half-sister says their sperm donor dad showed 'no remorse' when she confronted him

• e-mail

A Connecticut woman inadvertently slept with her half-brother while unaware of her 23 siblings as her half-sister said their sperm donor dad showed 'no remorse' when she confronted him. 

Victoria Hill, 39, said she was left 'traumatized' after realizing she had unknowingly committed incest with her high school boyfriend.

Hill is among at least 23 people who say they were conceived using the sperm of married doctor Burton Caldwell, without their parents' knowledge. 

Janine Pierson is her half-sister, also conceived with Caldwell's sperm. She took a DNA test in 2022 and later later discovered a boy she went to a summer camp with was her half-brother. Both Pierson and Hill confronted Caldwell individually. 

'He completely admitted it. He had no remorse whatsoever,' Pierson told NBC Connecticut. '(He) asked me very pointed questions about my life and my achievements and how many grandchildren he had, but offered no kind of apology whatsoever.'

Pierson said her fertility father doctor 'completely admitted it' and 'had no remorse whatsoever' when she confronted him (Pictured: Caldwell with biological daughter, Janine Pierson)

Victoria Hill, Pierson's half-sister also conceived by Caldwell, unwittingly slept with her half brother after her mom's fertility doctor secretly used his own sperm to get her pregnant

Hill's mom Maralee Hill claims she was told by Caldwell that the sperm would come from an anonymous student

'He said he really didn't think about how many of us there would be or what that impact would be like,' she added. 

Hill said she only found out the man she had grown up thinking was her dad was not her biological father after taking a 23andMe test. She then found out her high school boyfriend was her half-brother years after they dated. 

'I moved to Wallingford in middle school, and we were best friends for years, and then ultimately decided to date and then we decided to go our separate ways because of college,' Hill told NBC Connecticut. 

'We never ended up marrying and having children, but he is someone who, even to this day, I very much would have considered that, had life taken us in that direction.'

Hill said she received a text from her ex-boyfriend which said, 'You are my sister.'

'It has me look back at my whole high school experience through a totally different lens. It tarnishes the whole thing,' Hill told CNN. 

'I'll just put it out there, I was intimate with my half brother.'

Hill also revealed that she attended elementary school with another sibling and frequently attended a local deli owned by twins who are also her relations. 

'I was traumatized by this,' Hill added. 'Now I'm looking at pictures of people thinking, well, if he could be my sibling, anybody could be my sibling.' 

Hill said she only found out the man she had grown up thinking was her dad was not her biological father after taking a 23andMe test. She then found out her high-school boyfriend was her half-brother years after they dated 

Janine Pierson is her half-sister, also conceived with Caldwell's sperm. She took a DNA test in 2022 and later later discovered a boy she went to a summer camp with was her half-brother. Both Pierson and Hill confronted Caldwell individually

There are currently no federal laws around fertility fraud and only 13 states have protections in place

She and her ex-boyfriend, who wishes to remain anonymous, only found out they were related after both taking 23andMe tests

Hill said she considered suing the doctor, but was told that fuzzy fertility fraud laws meant that she did not have much of a case.

There are currently no federal laws around the issue and only 13 states have such protections in place.

However, this has not been enough to deter social worker Janine Pierson, one of Hill's half sisters, who is now pursuing action against the retired doctor.

Pierson believed she was an only child until she took a 23andMe test in 2022.

'It was like my entire life just came to this screeching halt,' she told CNN, revealing she also had to break the news to her mom.

'We both just cried for a few minutes because it just felt like such a violation.'

Pierson also crossed path with a sibling at a summer camp, a photograph shows them, ''Within 20 feet of one another, and we have no idea,' she said.

'It shouldn't just be, you know, the Wild West where these doctors can just do whatever it is that they want,' Pierson added.

Janine Pierson thought she was an only child until taking a 23andMe test. She is now attempting to sue her biological father. 

She went to confront her biological father, who has since given up his practice.

'He was not in any way apologetic,' Pierson said, adding that he did not deny using his own sperm when working in the 1980s at a New Haven clinic. 

But he did confess that he 'never gave it the thought that he should have … that there would be so many (children), and that it would have any kind of an impact on us,' Pierson said.

She claimed the interaction was awkward, with the retired doctor probing about how many grandchildren he had and what she had made of her life, 'like how intelligent I was, basically,' Pierson said.

She said she had mixed emotions because, 'I despise you, but at the same time, I'm grateful to be here.' When approached by CNN, Caldwell's wife spoke on his behalf and declined to comment. 

More than 30 doctors around the country have been caught or accused of covertly using their own sperm to impregnate their patients, according to the outlet. Although advocates say they know of at least 80. 

The situation has echoes of the infamous case of Dr. Donald Cline, who fathered at least 90 children in Indiana, prompting the state to pass laws outlawing fertility fraud.

The legislation was not retroactive, so Cline never faced any prosecution. However he was charged with lying to investigators with the state attorney general's office who were looking into the case.

The situation has echoes of the infamous case of Dr. Donald Cline, who fathered at least 90 children in Indiana which prompted the state to bring in fertility fraud laws

He gave up his medical license following his conviction for obstruction of justice after a disciplinary panel said there was not enough evidence to strip him of the right to practice.

But in Kentucky, an ob-gyn was able to keep his license despite admitting to using his own sperm to inseminate half a dozen patients.

Dr Marvin Yussman allegedly told his clients the donation would come from a medical student. The situation also led to the development of fertility laws within his state.

A Netflix documentary about Cline prompted two members of Congress to coauthor the first federal bill outlawing fertility fraud.

The Protecting Families from Fertility Fraud Act was proposed by Reps. Stephanie Bice, an Oklahoma Republican, and Mike Sherrill, a New Jersey Democrat.

The bill has received cross party support from dozens of backers and if passed would establish a new federal crime for intentionally misleading on the source of DNA used in fertility treatments.

However, not everyone supports greater regulation, including opponents who argue that it could make fertility treatment less accessible to LGBTQ+ people who makeup a large part of donor recipients.

'I think we should pause before creating additional criminal liability for people practicing reproductive medicine,' Katherine L. Kraschel, assistant professor of law and health sciences at Northeastern University told CNN.

'It gives me great pause … to say we want the government to try to step in and regulate what amounts to a reproductive choice.' 

Others have suggested fertility fraud might be phased out with the advent of home genetic testing, pointing out that most cases took place before 2000.