An infertility doctor is almost certain to have fathered 15 children by his artificial-insemination patients, according to a paternity testing expert who testified at the doctor's fraud trial.
The likelihood that anyone other than Dr. Cecil Jacobson could be the father of all 15 children is one in 28 trillion, Gary M. Stuhlmiller of Roche Biomedical Laboratories in Burlington, N.C., said Wednesday.DNA tests conducted on Jacobson, the children and their mothers showed that the doctor is 99.99 percent certain to be the father, Stuhlmiller said, adding that the tests are never 100 percent conclusive.
Jacobson, who faces 52 counts of fraud and perjury, is accused of fathering up to 75 children born to his artificial-insemination patients.
Eleven witnesses have testified anonymously that when they or their wives sought insemination, Jacobson promised to find a donor to match the husbands' physical characteristics and sometimes even religion.
Defense lawyer James Tate has told the jury that Jacobson occasionally used his own sperm when a donor did not arrive and a woman was ready to receive insemination. Tate said it is not illegal for a doctor to donate sperm.
Stuhlmiller said tests excluded Jacobson as the father of two of 17 children tested. But on the other 15, each DNA test showed a 99.99 percent probability, he said.
The prosecution was expected to rest its case Thursday.