Chapter 12 - THE PATTERNThe clinic’s final internal audit covered twenty-nine years.
It was ugly.
Simon Kline began using his own genetic material during fellowship era before founding clinic.
Records poor.
Some cases donor shortages.
Some substitutions.
Some possible contamination.
Later deliberate overrides.
A pattern of entitlement, not coherent eugenics plan.
He believed he was medically superior donor:
educated.
healthy.
screened.
That belief itself narcissistic.
He wrote in old note:
In donor scarcity, physician-provided sample avoids unknown variables.
No consent.
Later, as regulation improved, he hid behind system access.
The clinic failed too.
Board had warnings.
2009 embryologist complained Kline entered cryostorage alone.
Dismissed as management style.
2014 donor inventory discrepancy.
Resolved internally.
2017 patient questioned child ancestry.
Kline explained mutation/recording error.
No external report.
Institution protected reputation.
The lawsuit expanded beyond Kline:
Clinic entity.
Certain administrators.
Priscilla in June-specific claim? Nadia and Wesley decided yes, though family settlement possible.
Wesley said:
“If we omit her because mother, we become same system.”
Nadia agreed.
Priscilla’s lawyer negotiated acknowledgement and damages? She had money. The point accountability not extracting family wealth.
Nadia requested:
Written admission.
Payment of legal costs.
Funding independent medical registry for June and affected siblings.
No NDA.
Priscilla cooperate.
Priscilla accepted after resistance.
She asked:
“Are you suing me publicly?”
“Filing may be public.”
“Could settle private.”
Nadia:
“Not with secrecy.”
Priscilla looked away.
“No NDA.”
“Yes.”
The pattern also exposed class differences.
Some families could afford lawyers.
Others not.
Fairmont resources helped fund common counsel? Nadia suggested through independent fund, not control.
Priscilla offered money.
Families suspicious.
Eventually court-approved legal support fund financed partly by clinic insurer and Priscilla’s voluntary contribution, managed independent nonprofit.
Not redemption purchase.
She could contribute without owning.
Kline’s defense sought characterize Priscilla as directing June substitution.
For June, yes.
But other cases showed Kline independent pattern.
Priscilla was not mastermind behind 31 children.
Important.
She was co-actor in one.
Wesley feared public would think mother caused all.
Nadia:
“We correct facts, not image.”
They did.
Priscilla issued public statement:
I requested a genetic connection between my son and his future child and knowingly encouraged Dr. Simon Kline to pursue that objective despite understanding that Nadia and Wesley had selected another donor. I did not have authority to make that decision. I regret my role and am cooperating. I had no knowledge of Dr. Kline’s conduct involving other patients until the current investigation.
Her lawyers hated.
She insisted.
This was significant.
No passive voice.
No “mistakes were made.”
Nadia read and said:
“Good.”
Not forgiveness.
Good.
Public reaction brutal.
Priscilla lost foundation board seat temporarily.
Friends withdrew.
Some defended.
“Grandmother wanted family connection.”
That disturbed.
Comments:
“She was only trying help.”
Nadia responded nowhere.
But privately:
Intentions do not override reproductive consent.
The case became a discussion bigger than Fairmont.
Academic experts? In fiction, media panels.
Nadia refused interviews.
She wanted June ordinary.
At kindergarten, another parent heard news and asked:
“Is June okay?”
Nadia:
“Yes.”
“Is Wesley really—”
“Please don’t discuss genetics around children.”
The parent apologized.
School administration protected privacy.
Good.
June noticed adults whisper.
“What happened?”
Nadia and Wesley followed counselor script:
“The doctor who helped us have you did not follow a rule we agreed on.”
“He used a different donor.”
“You are healthy and loved.”
“We’re fixing grown-up parts.”
June:
“Is donor bad?”
Nadia’s heart stopped.
“No.”
“Using different donor without asking was bad choice.”
Do not teach genes bad.
June:
“Did Daddy know?”
Wesley swallowed.
“Not when you were made.”
“I learned some things later and should have told Mommy sooner.”
Nadia looked.
He included accountability without burden detail.
June:
“Are you still Daddy?”
His eyes filled.
“Yes.”
“Okay.”
She returned coloring.
Adults make identity catastrophic.
Children sometimes accept simple truth when relationships secure.
The pattern around Kline would take years legally.
But within Fairmont family, cycle could break now.
No more “we’ll tell when older” becoming never.
May you like
Age-appropriate truth.
Repeated.
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