Dr. Norman Barwin: The Ottawa Fertility Doctor Who Used His Own Sperm

Bernard Norman Barwin, born in 1939 in South Africa, built a career in Ottawa as an obstetrician-gynecologist and fertility specialist, directing clinics that performed thousands of artificial inseminations and establishing one of the city's first sperm banks. In 1997 he was appointed to the Order of Canada in recognition of his contributions to reproductive medicine, and he was also known publicly for founding the pro-choice advocacy group Canadians for Choice.

Decades of Wrong — and His Own — Sperm

Court and regulatory findings later established that Barwin had used incorrect donor sperm, and in a number of cases his own sperm, in artificial insemination procedures dating as far back as 1973 and continuing through 2012. Patients were told a chosen donor's or a partner's sperm had been used; many only learned the truth decades later, often by chance. The lead plaintiffs in the eventual class action, Dan and Davina Dixon, sought Barwin's help conceiving a child in 1989; their daughter Rebecca, born in 1990, only realized in 2016 — after a high-school genetics lesson made her question how two blue-eyed parents could have a brown-eyed daughter — that Barwin, not her father, was her biological parent. At least 17 "Barwin babies" were eventually confirmed genetically, out of an estimated 50 to 100 patients believed to have received the wrong sperm altogether.

Barwin stopped practising in 2014. In 2013, following mounting public allegations, he was stripped of his appointment to the Order of Canada.

Licence Revoked

The College of Physicians and Surgeons of Ontario (CPSO) opened an investigation into Barwin in 2016 after complaints. At a June 25, 2019 discipline hearing — which Barwin, then 80, did not attend — a CPSO panel found he had committed professional misconduct and was incompetent, calling his conduct "appalling" and "beyond reprehensible." Barwin pleaded no contest through his lawyer. The panel revoked his certificate of registration effective immediately, delivered a formal reprimand, and fined him $10,730. Panel chair Dr. Steven Bodley said it was "unfortunate" revocation and a fine were the only sanctions available to the committee, adding that the panel could at least "take some solace in the fact that you are no longer in a position to cause further harm."

A Landmark Class Action

A class-action lawsuit — Dixon et al. v. Dr. Norman Barwin — was launched in November 2016 by the Dixon family and certified by the Ontario Superior Court in July 2021, covering more than 200 class members. In November 2021, Ontario Superior Court Justice Calum MacLeod approved a negotiated $13.375-million settlement, including $75,000 set aside to establish a DNA database for those affected. The settlement was not an admission of wrongdoing, and Barwin continued to deny the claims against him. Lawyers for the families called it the first class-action settlement of its kind against a physician anywhere in the world.

Timeline

• 1997Appointed to the Order of Canada for contributions to reproductive medicine.
• 1973–2012Period during which Barwin is later found to have used incorrect or his own sperm in patient inseminations.
• 2013Stripped of his Order of Canada appointment amid mounting public allegations.
• 2014Retires from medical practice.
• 2016CPSO opens an investigation; the Dixon family launches a class-action lawsuit in November.
• Jun 25, 2019CPSO Discipline Committee revokes his licence, reprimands him, and fines him $10,730 after he pleads no contest.
• Jul 2021Class action certified by the Ontario Superior Court.
• Nov 1, 2021Court approves a $13.375-million class-action settlement for affected families.