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The student news site of Pleasant Valley High School

Spartan Shield

The student news site of Pleasant Valley High School

Spartan Shield

REVIEW: A look into Netflix’s new documentary: “Our Father”

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Sidney Brockmann
“Our Father” is a Netflix original hit, consistently ranking in Netflix’s top 10 movies of the day.

The new documentary “Our Father” recently hit Netflix screens and exploded in popularity, making daily appearances in Netflix’s “Top 10 movies of today”. The film has sparked a heavy conversation regarding its subject, Dr. Donald Cline, and his shocking corruption. 

“Our Father” tells the disturbing story of a fertility doctor that inseminated his own sperm into his female patients without their consent. Prior to the discovery of this scheme, Cline was trusted like any other fertility doctor in Indianapolis. The documentary sets an eerie tone as children — products of Cline’s crimes — tell their personal stories.

Cline’s biological children discover they share his DNA when they take ancestry tests. People usually take DNA tests just for fun to find out more about their origins, unfortunately Cline’s children were robbed of this experience. Many receive the results and are very confused when they got several sibling matches. Most assumed there was a mistake in the system, until they started talking to their parents and pieced together the puzzle. 

Many siblings shared similar stories explaining their difficult childhood theorizing they were adopted. They touched on their struggle to discuss the matter with their families and the great pain and conflict that came with finding out the truth. Some of Cline’s biological children grew up believing someone else was their biological father and it was crushing when they discovered the truth about their origins.

As Cline’s history is looked into, more and more dirt is dug up about him including the possibility of him being involved with an extremist Christian group with underlying white supremacist beleifs.

94 people have discovered their surprising relation to Cline although there is no way to know how many there are in total. Cline was in practice for several decades giving him hundreds of opportunities for misconduct. 

The documentary goes into disturbing detail with real audio recordings of Cline and interviews with several of his biological children. It is an eye opening documentary, shocking to many.

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About the Contributor
Sidney Brockmann, Social Media Manager
Sidney Brockmann is the Social Media Manager of the Spartan Shield. As her first year writing for the Shield, Sidney is excited to be a member of the Spartan Shield. Throughout her years at Pleasant Valley High School, Sidney has taken up various positions in school activities. Sidney is an executive member of Spartan Assembly - Pleasant Valley’s student council where she plans meetings, organizes events, and discusses the power of leadership. In addition, Sidney is an officer of Future Business Leaders of America. Along with her leadership positions, Sidney has participated in choir and jazz choir all four years of high school, and enjoys playing tennis in the spring season. As a member of Girls Learn International club, Sidney discusses global and local issues with her peers. In her free time, Sidney spends time with her friends and family, getting coffee and ice cream. Additionally, Sidney loves listening to music, working out, and being outdoors. She is looking forward to writing for the Spartan Shield this year.
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REVIEW: A look into Netflix’s new documentary: “Our Father”