Cecil Jacobson

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Cecil Byran Jacobson (born October 2, 1936) is a former American fertility doctor who uses his own sperm to impregnate his patient without telling them.

Jacobson was born in Salt Lake City, Utah. Graduated from Brown University and Middlesex Medical School, he became a researcher at George Washington University, but did not have any special training in infertility treatment.

Video Cecil Jacobson

Baboon impregnation

In the 1960s, Jacobson, who was Head of the Reproductive Genetics Unit at George Washington University Medical School, claimed that he had impregnated a male baboon; he should be planting a fertilized egg from a female baboon into a male's abdominal cavity. She claims that she has ended her pregnancy after four months. He never published the results in scientific publications.

Maps Cecil Jacobson

Incorrect pregnancy

In the 1980s, Jacobson operated a center of reproductive genetics in Fairfax County, Virginia. She specializes in treating women who have difficulty conceiving, or problems that bring pregnancy for the long term. One form of treatment is to inject the patient, before and after conception, with the hormone hCG (commonly used as parenteral fertility drugs and hormones that are normally released during pregnancy), and patients who can not get pregnant with other treatments report success under Jacobson cares.

Pregnancy runs normally through the early stages: standard positive pregnancy tests and the patient's body begins to experience normal changes. Jacobson performs ultrasound, identifying the fetus in coarse images. Around the third month, Jacobson will report that the fetus has died. In fact, these patients never get pregnant, and body changes are a reaction to hCG. Pregnancy test is a false positive because the test determines pregnancy in the presence of hCG. During Jacobson's criminal trial, experts examined ultrasound photographs, and reported that the actual "fetus" is an organ or fecal matter nearby.

However, other patients succeeded in getting pregnant and having children. While some patients feel uncomfortable with Jacobson's attitude, and start disbelief, other patients give him credit for successful treatment.

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Paternity

In 1989, a former suspicious patient told a local television station, which investigated and reported about a fake pregnancy. Jacobson was sued by many patients. The federal prosecutor charged Jacobson with perjury (for false testimony during the civil process) and mail and wire fraud (for the use of letters and telephone systems as part of fraudulent practices).

During a criminal investigation, another type of fraud is revealed. For various reasons, some patients have been arranged for artificial insemination with sperm provided by an anonymous, screened donor by Jacobson. To maintain the anonymity of the donors, Jacobson explains, he identifies them in a note using a code number; only Jacobson knows their true identity. Researchers found no evidence that there was a truly existing donor program. Some Jacobson patients who have been pregnant through donor insemination agree to perform a genetic test. At least seven examples were identified in which Jacobson was the biological father of the patient's children, including one patient who should have been inseminated with the sperm provided by her husband. DNA tests connect Jacobson with at least 15 such children, and it has been suspected that he fathered as many as 75 children by impregnating patients with their own sperm.

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Aftermath

Defense

Jacobson strongly denied wrongdoing. She offers these explanations: In connection with the case of "fake pregnancy", she believes that women are actually pregnant, and continue to maintain that some of them are actually pregnant. He is well aware that injected hCG can trigger false positives in pregnancy tests, but thinks that the given dose is too low to have such an effect. If he misreads the ultrasound, it is an honest mistake. As for donor insemination, Jacobson stated that he actually relies on anonymous donors as claimed. He admitted using his own sperm on several occasions, when donors failed to emerge when needed, and a patient would miss the chance to get pregnant. He could not explain the incidence in which the sperm itself was used in the place of the patient's husband, in addition to suggest cross-contamination in the laboratory.

Sentence

In 1992, Jacobson was convicted of 52 allegations of letter fraud, wire fraud and perjury. He was sentenced to five years in prison and revoked his medical license. Jacobson appealed against his convictions and sentences, but they were upheld by the appeals court. He now lives in Provo, Utah, where he is involved in agricultural research.

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In Media

A book written about this case, Babymaker: Fertility, Deception and Fall of Doctor Cecil Jacobson (1993), Rick Nelson, ISBN 0-553-56162-6
This story was made into a 1994 TV movie; The Babymaker: The Dr Cecil Jacobson Story
This case became the basis of Season 5 episode Law & amp; Messages , "Seed"
The case element is echoed in Season 4 episode Fringe , "A Better Man"
The case element is echoed in episode Season 1 Awake , "Little Boy"
Element case echoed in Season 1 episode Reaper , "Coming to Hand"
This case was discussed at Harvard University "Justice" by Michael Sandel
A drama SNL with John Goodman starring as Cecil Jacobson performed, in which Jacobson was sentenced by court to starring in a sitcom with 75 children he fathered.