LANSING, Mich. (Michigan News Source) — Michigan lawmakers are moving to ensure fertility doctors can’t play God without consequences.

The Michigan House voted Feb. 18 to move forward with new criminal penalties for “fertility fraud,” approving legislation that would make it a felony to misrepresent genetic information or use unauthorized sperm or eggs in assisted reproduction.

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First introduced in 2021, the bills aim to close a longstanding legal loophole that left Michigan without criminal consequences for such conduct—even in cases where doctors used their own sperm without patients’ knowledge or consent.

Under the proposal, knowingly providing false donor information or using unauthorized genetic material could carry penalties of up to five years in prison and a $50,000 fine. Furthermore, fertility providers who deliberately use sperm, eggs, or embryos other than those selected—including their own—could face up to 15 years in prison and $100,000 in fines.

The bills were partly inspired by a Michigan woman who discovered through genetic testing that her mother’s fertility doctor had used his own sperm instead of the donor her mother selected.

Beyond criminal penalties, the legislation would also allow affected parents or children to file civil lawsuits and require state regulators to discipline physicians who engage in fraud.

State Rep. John Roth (R-Interlochen), who spearheaded the legislation, said the reforms are overdue.

“There is no criminal penalty, no accountability, no justice for the people whose lives have been forever altered,” Roth said. “When they ask for help, they deserve honesty. They deserve medical integrity. They deserve the truth.”