Real life: ‘I had no idea my vile doctor fathered my daughter’

When Margo Williams married for the second time aged 30, she was desperate to start a family with her new husband, Doug. She already had a daughter, Mia, now 45, with her first husband – but Doug didn’t have any children and they wanted to start their own family.

For two years, they tried to conceive naturally, but, in desperation, sought help from a renowned fertility doctor. They were thrilled when Margo eventually fell pregnant via IVF using sperm from a donor they had specifically picked for a list of attributes.

But, in an appalling twist, years later it emerged the fertility doctor, Dr Kim McMorries, had in fact added his own sperm to the donor’s sample to impregnate her. Nine months later, he delivered his own and Margo’s daughter in his clinic.

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Margo, now 65 and a retired school nurse living in Texas, USA, explains, "We’d tried fertility drugs, but nothing happened. So we then went to Dr McMorries and had five rounds of artificial insemination using Doug’s sperm.

"When that still didn’t work, we decided to use donor sperm. I was given information with details about the height, weight and hobbies of the men. We made our choice based on his interest in politics and film."

This time, the insemination was a success and Margo was thrilled. She continued seeing Dr McMorries for all her scans – and he delivered her daughter Eve when she was born in July 1987. Margo admits, "He was our hero. We got on brilliantly with him and couldn’t have been happier."

Margo and Doug, who sadly died in 1995, were eventually able to have a second daughter naturally together – Joanna, now 31. However, the couple decided not to tell Eve she was the product of donor sperm.

When Eve was 16, Margo made a request to the sperm bank for any updated medical information on the sperm donor she’d used, in case of any issues. But Eve came across the emails, and discovered the man she thought was her father actually wasn’t.

Margo says, "It was a huge shock, but she was very calm and, in a way, happy. This way, she realised she might have a father figure in her life again.

"I agreed to help her find the sperm donor. It took two years, but back then sperm banks were opening up their anonymity policy. If both the child and the donor were happy to share contact details, then they could be put in touch with each other."

In 2006, the sperm donor Margo used got in touch. They found out his name was Steve Scholl, he was 65, and he owned a publishing company.

Margo says, "We started corresponding and he seemed lovely. He emailed Eve and they spoke on the phone. Then after a year, when Eve was 18 and at college, he arranged to fly down to meet her, and I went too.

"When we met, I felt an incredible bond with him. He’d given me my beloved daughter and I was thrilled he wanted to be involved in her life. They looked alike and their personalities were similar, with the same sense of humour.

"Over the next few years, I saw him a handful of times – but Eve saw a lot of him. They had an incredible relationship."

But last year, everything changed. Eve bought an online DNA test for medical reasons – and made a shocking discovery.

Margo says, "The results showed Eve had a biological first cousin on the database who had also taken a DNA test, which meant they could contact each other.

"When she got in touch with him, he told her he had an uncle who lived near to us – and his name was Kim McMorries, the fertility doctor who had treated me. Eve was horrified to realise it meant that Dr McMorries, who I’d told her all about, was in fact her father.

"She immediately came to tell me, and I couldn’t believe what she was saying. I thought I was going to be sick. I was in shock that my doctor, who I respected and trusted, would have betrayed me. I felt violated. He’d known a huge secret about my family for years. It was disgusting to think this man had known he was delivering his own daughter, but we didn’t."

Eve consulted a lawyer with a view to prosecuting Dr McMorries, but was appalled to discover that what he’d done wasn’t actually against the law.

Margo says, "What he’d done to our family was so terrible – we’d lived a lie. But there was nothing that could be done about it.

"Eve also had to tell Steve – the man who adored her – that he wasn’t actually her father. There were lots of tears, but he was brilliant and reassured her that nothing was going to change and that he was still her dad. I was relieved. She’d already been through so much."

Eve contacted Dr McMorries via letter and email and eventually he wrote back, confirming what he’d done.

Margo says, "He said that he’d mixed one sample with another local sample, claiming he’d learned in medical school about 'mixing' and how it was meant to increase the chance of conception. He claimed that I had known he was doing it, which I didn’t, and I was furious he was suggesting it."

Nonetheless, Dr McMorries had used his own sperm. Margo says, "Eve asked if he had fathered any other children in the same way, and he replied saying he knew of one or two other women who became pregnant after he mixed his semen in with a donor sample. We were horrified."

Furious Eve began working with lawyers and the state government in Texas to try to change the law. In May 2018, it became illegal for any medical professional to inseminate a patient without using the sperm they are expecting.

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Margo says, "The change in law now means that what that man did to me is classed as sexual assault. Frustratingly, he cannot be charged retrospectively, but it now means no other family will have to suffer."

She adds, "I haven’t confronted him. I don’t even want to look at him – it would be too upsetting for me. There was no excuse for what he did."

Eve Wiley, 32, says, "When I found out I was conceived via sperm donor, I couldn’t wait to meet my biological father. And when I met Steve, we bonded immediately. I called him Dad, he officiated at my wedding to my husband Blake, and he was a doting grandpa to my kids, Hutton, five, and Scarlett, three.

"When I found out McMorries was my father, I was horrified that my parents had been lied to and violated. My mum was horrified, but telling Steve was the hardest. He was brilliant, though, and said he still saw me as a daughter and I’d always be part of his family.

"I have emailed Dr McMorries, but he has never apologised for his actions. I’m sad I’ll never get to know my biological father – but I’ve got all the family I need."