Jacoba And Heather From 'Our Father' Say They May Have Even More Half-Siblings
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Netflix's new true crime documentary Our Father unravels the terrifying case of Donald Cline.
Cline, a former fertility doctor, fathered dozens of his patients' children without their consent.
But exactly how many children does Cline have? Here's what you need to know:
Warning: Spoilers ahead! Stop reading here if you don't want to know what happens in Our Father.
It was an unexpected family reunion of the worst kind. When Jacoba Ballard took a DNA test, she had no idea the results would come back with seven matches. One scroll through 23andMe later, and she realized she had seven half-siblings she'd never met before.
The new Netflix true crime documentary Our Father follows Jacoba's journey to uncover the truth: that former fertility doctor Donald Cline was her biological dad. She would later find out that Cline had secretly fathered dozens of his patients' children without their knowledge or consent for years.
The film explains how Jacoba turned her personal investigation into a media frenzy and, eventually, real legislative change. And, as Our Father goes on, the number of half-siblings Jacoba continues to find only climbs higher and higher.
So, how many children does Donald Cline really have? And, where are they now? Here's everything to know:
As of right now, Cline has almost 100 children.
First, Cline has two children with his wife, Audrey. And Our Father reveals that Cline fathered 94 children with his patients at the time of filming.
It's also possible that there are more half-siblings out there. "We find new siblings regularly, especially after major holidays because DNA testing kits are big gifts," Heather Woock, one of Cline's children, tells Women's Health. "We just had Mother's Day last weekend, so I'm sure that even just as a result of that, we'll find another sibling or two."
Jacoba says that finding new relatives always gives her a "sick feeling."
"One, you're having to relive the whole thing. And two, it's almost like you know that you're ruining their life, and then you're going to turn around and support to help them rebuild it," she tells WH.
Below, catch up on where a few of the 94 half-siblings are now:
Jacoba Ballard
During her investigation, Jacoba met Cline and his family in person. She also received phone calls from Cline asking her not to share the story with any journalists. But she tells WH that she hasn't heard from Cline since.
In Our Father, Jacoba also explains she's been battling health issues. "I'm doing better than last year. Last year was really bad," she tells Women's Health. "There was a period of time, I didn't know if I was going to make it. I really thought I was going to die." She still doesn't have a diagnosis, and she says many of her half-siblings are facing similar health struggles.
Now, she's focusing on local advocacy work. Jacoba is a mentor for Right To Know, an organization that pushes for legislatures to pass fertility fraud laws. (Since the documentary, Indiana and a few other states have finally passed laws making fertility fraud a crime.)
"Honestly, I'm kind of thankful for it. It brings awareness on this huge platform," Jacoba says of the documentary. "I have read people saying they weren't even aware of him and they live in the state of Indiana. So I'm hoping it reaches more people, more patients."
Heather Woock
Heather, sibling #22 in the film, was bewildered when she received a message from Jacoba explaining they were related. "I called my mom and I was like, 'Mom, is it possible I have random siblings out there somewhere?'" Heather tells Women's Health. "She was like, 'I don't know what you're talking about.'"
"At that point, I just didn't think it was real," she adds. "This is so weird," she recalls thinking. "What kind of scam is this?"
Flash forward to today, and she's also excited about Our Father's release. "It took a lot of guts and emotion for us to participate in this documentary," Heather tells WH. "It's exciting that the fruits of those efforts are now available for everyone to see, but it's also nerve-wracking because everyone can now see."
Now, Heather works with Jacoba on raising awareness around fertility fraud laws. "While we would love for there to be something at a national level, it is nice to see it kind of trickling across the nation," she says.
"It doesn't feel like a brand new spotlight on this," Heather adds, "but it's certainly bigger and brighter now."
Matthew White
“There’s no idiot’s guide to finding out that your biological father is your mother’s fertility doctor," Matt White, a.k.a. sibling #17, told Indianapolis Monthly.
As Indiana lawmakers first prepared to hold a hearing to discuss a proposed fertility fraud bill, Matt drafted letters to send to individual members. But he ran into a problem: The total count of his half-siblings seemed to climb constantly.
“I couldn’t type a letter at night and then print it out in the morning and send it without it changing,” he told the outlet. “Finally, I had to write on the envelope saying, ‘Oh, the number in here has been updated since I wrote it last night.’ ”
Since his own DNA results connected him to Cline, Matt and his mother Liz have fought tirelessly to get fertility fraud laws on legislative dockets across the U.S.
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