“Although I know some other doctors in the world did what Dr. Barwin did, I don’t know of any other class actions or settlements anywhere else in the world,” said Peter Cronin, the lawyer representing these families.

The class action lawsuit has grown to 226 members, including former patients and children who were conceived by artificial insemination-17 of them discovered through DNA that Barwin was their biological father.

The main plaintiffs Dan and Davina Dixon sought Barwin’s help to get pregnant with their daughter Rebecca, who was born in 1990. Until recent years, the family knew that Barwin (not Dan Dixon) was Rebecca’s biological father.

In 2019, the Ontario College of Physicians and Surgeons deprived Barwin of his medical license and discovered that he used his own sperm to inseminate several patients and used the wrong sperm with many others, which constituted professional misconduct. Barwin raised no objections at the time and was ordered to pay a fine of $10,730.

According to documents certified on Wednesday, the class action agreement stated that the negotiated settlement did not acknowledge Barwin’s improper conduct, and Barwin “has denied and will continue to deny all claims of the plaintiff in this lawsuit.”

The document also pointed out that Barwin agreed to negotiate a settlement and concluded that “in order to avoid the time, risk and expense required to continue litigation, the agreement is desirable.”

The settlement funds will be distributed among the claimants according to the “damage category” and legal and administrative expenses will be paid. US$75,000 will be used to establish and operate a DNA database for Barwin’s patients, sperm donors and conceived children, and they will all have the opportunity to contribute to the database voluntarily.

“The main purpose of the DNA database is to provide children’s classes with an opportunity to identify their biological father, obtain a medical history, and find half-brothers and sisters,” the settlement agreement reads.

Maximum payout: USD 50,000 per claimant

Barwin and his lawyers declined to comment on the proposed settlement agreement, which seeks compensation of up to $50,000, depending on the “category of injury” to the individual.

The highest payout is reserved for patients, “They have DNA evidence that one or more of the children conceived with the help of Dr. Barwin, or the semen previously entrusted to Dr. Barwin, are not the biological children of the man in the couple.”

The first child of these patients can receive US$40,000, and for every additional child in the same family, “a total of US$10,000 can be earned.”

Patients who entrust sperm to storage and custody, and then cause unrelated patients to conceive, can receive up to $25,000 in compensation. In these cases, the child can earn up to $40,000.

The number of claimants may change

The current payment amount for each claimant may increase or decrease, depending on how many claimants successfully qualify for the class action.

From now to November, members who have signed up can opt out. Within 120 days after November, other eligible persons can participate in the lawsuit, and the reserved USD 13,375,000 will be reallocated accordingly.

Cronyn estimated that during the claim period from 1973 to 2012, 500 births may have been successfully delivered through Barwin-related artificial insemination, so he said that the number of claimants may increase to more than the current 226.

The amount in the settlement agreement comes from what Cronin calls “hard work” negotiations.

“By the end of the process, we are sure that there is nothing more to have, and this is the number,” he said.