A Florida woman who accused a Vermont doctor of impregnating her with his own sperm rather than a donor’s was awarded $5.25 million by a federal court jury Wednesday.
Highlights
- Cheryl Rousseau was awarded $5.25 million by a federal court jury in the case against Vermont doctor John Coates III.
- She and her husband, Peter Rousseau, sued Coates in 2018, accusing him of using his sperm during an artificial insemination procedure in 1977 at what was then called the Central Vermont Hospital in Berlin, Vermont.
- The child, then an adult, used DNA testing and found out Coates was her biological father in October 2018, according to the lawsuit.
- The jury found that Coates failed to disclose that he planned to use his genetic material prior to the procedure, caused Cheryl Rousseua harm, breached a contract they had and inflicted damages upon her, the verdict form said.