Nearly 35 years ago, an Idaho woman sought fertility treatment from a Spokane doctor, hoping to conceive her second baby through artificial insemination. On Thursday, she filed a lawsuit against the now-retired OB-GYN, alleging that he secretly used his own sperm to impregnate her.

Sharon Hayes’ lawsuit, filed Thursday in Spokane County Superior Court, calls out a practice that has gained attention in the last several years as a growing number of people have discovered their genetic history is not what they thought. But in Washington state, and in most of the country, there are no laws specifically banning doctors from secretly using their own sperm during artificial insemination procedures.

A state bill to create a criminal charge around the practice, among other regulatory measures, has died in the past four legislative sessions.

The lawsuit instead claims Dr. David R. Claypool violated the state’s medical malpractice statute, which requires doctors to get informed consent from patients for treatment, as well as the Consumer Protection Act. It ultimately seeks financial damages, to be set at a later date.

Reached by phone Wednesday afternoon, Claypool said he had no knowledge of the lawsuit or allegations, and denied knowing Hayes.

“I know people are very happy,” Claypool said of his past patients. “But this is the first I’ve heard of anything in 40 years.”

Claypool said he was an independent OB-GYN who stopped practicing in 2005. Drew Dalton, Claypool’s attorney, declined to comment Wednesday except to note, “The matter is still in mediation as far as I am aware.”

Hayes believes she’s the first to take a Washington doctor to court over the issue.

“He just needs to be held accountable,” Hayes said.

Hayes, now 67 and still living in Hauser, Idaho, went to see Claypool in 1989, according to the lawsuit.

Her first child, Darci, was conceived through artificial insemination in Seattle, but 10 years later, Hayes wanted a closer provider. A friend recommended Spokane-based Claypool.

Hayes thought she knew what to expect.

Hayes starting feeling uneasy around him early on for reasons that were “hard to pinpoint,” she said in an interview. But she pushed through her doubts, telling herself she just wasn’t used to the new doctor.

She said she saw Claypool for about six months and received treatment a handful of times before she became pregnant.

Part of that process included selecting an anonymous donor based on physical features, health and genetic qualities. The donor would be chosen from a pool of college students who physically resembled Hayes’ then-husband, Hayes said Claypool told her.

Each time, she gave Claypool $100 in cash for the sperm – on top of what insurance billed, she said. The doctor told her it was “how college kids made their money.”

Her second daughter, Brianna, was born in June 1990.

In the U.S., about 10% of women ages 15 to 44 said they received some form of fertility service between 2017 and 2019, according to a recent Pew Research Center study. Services include artificial insemination, which involves samples that can be frozen in banks and often come with extensive information about the donor.