Michigan House OKs 'fertility fraud' bills in response to donor deception

Beth LeBlanc, The Detroit News on Feb 18, 2026

Published in Women

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LANSING, Mich. — The Michigan House voted Wednesday to approve a package of bills that would make it illegal for assisted reproduction doctors to submit donor sperm or eggs that differ from what an in vitro fertilization patient requests.

The five-bill "fertility fraud" package, first introduced in 2021, would prohibit donors from providing false information about their medical or personal history as well as attempt to stop health professionals from using an embryo, sperm or egg that is different from the one requested by their client.

Michigan does not currently have laws to punish a doctor for lying about a sperm donor or using his own, even amid a couple of high-profile cases in which doctors in Michigan and elsewhere used their own sperm to impregnate patients.

Most of the five-bill package passed largely along party lines in the Republican-led House, with support from a handful of Democrats.

State Rep. John Roth, R-Interlochen, who has been working on the package of bills for about five years, said he is hopeful about the legislation's chances in the Senate.

The statutory framework is sorely needed to ensure integrity in the fertility industry, where abuses have been publicized in recent years, Roth said.

"There is no criminal penalty, no accountability, no justice for the people whose lives have been forever altered," Roth said from the House floor Wednesday. "Women turn to fertility specialists in moments of deep vulnerability, courage and hope. When they ask for help, they deserve honesty. They deserve medical integrity. They deserve the truth.”

State Rep. Laurie Pohutsky, D-Livonia, said she opposed the legislation in part because it asks otherwise well-meaning donors to vouch for information and family histories of which they may not have knowledge.

The legislation increases liability for donors and may lead to fewer egg and sperm donations in the future, Pohutsky said.

"I understand the necessity of dealing with fertility fraud," Pohutsky said. "But this (legislative) package goes really far beyond that and creates liability, where the person who is potentially being held liable doesn’t really have a reasonable expectation of knowing everything that these bills would require them to know.”

Roth has argued the legislation is careful to crack down only on donors or doctors who "knowingly" present false information.

The legislation was in part inspired by one of Roth's constituents, who learned through genetic testing that her mother's fertility doctor used his own sperm to impregnate her without her knowledge. The southeast Michigan obstetrician and gynecologist, Dr. Philip Peven, is now deceased, but previously admitted to using his own sperm instead of a designated donor because he knew it was "viable."

The bills passed by the House on Wednesday would make it a felony to knowingly engage in an activity that provides false or misleading information related to assisted reproduction, making it punishable by up to five years in prison and/or a $50,000 fine. The false information that could be prosecuted under the bill would include information related to the embryo or gamete used or the identity or medical or social history of a donor.

Health professionals who used an embryo or gamete, including their own, that wasn't designated by the patient would face up to 15 years in prison or a $100,000 fine.

The bill also specifies that the felonies would carry a 15-year statute of limitations within which charges would have to be filed. That 15-year window would start when an individual discovered evidence of the fraud.

The legislation also opens the window to civil litigation based on false representations related to assisted reproduction. It allows a parent or child injured by the false representation to sue for punitive and economic and non-economic damages as well as attorney fees and costs. The lawsuit would have to be filed within three years of an individual discovering the false representation.

The legislation also would allow and in some cases require the state Department of Licensing and Regulatory Affairs to take disciplinary action against a physician accused of having made false representations in assisted reproduction cases.

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