TRENTON, N.J. – The New Jersey Assembly has unanimously passed legislation making it a felony for fertility doctors to inseminate patients with their own genetic material without consent, moving to criminalize a practice that has drawn national outrage after decades of uncovered cases.
Assembly Bill 3735, approved on December 18, establishes “fertility fraud” as a third-degree crime, punishable by three to five years in prison, a fine of up to $15,000, or both. The measure also mandates the permanent revocation of any professional medical license or certification held by a convicted offender.
Under the bill, a healthcare practitioner commits fertility fraud if they knowingly perform an assisted reproduction procedure that results in pregnancy using either their own reproductive material or another person’s material without the written informed consent of the patient. Prosecutors would have up to 20 years from the date of the procedure—or 10 years from when the victim discovers the fraud—to bring charges.
The legislation follows reports of dozens of fertility doctors nationwide accused of secretly using their own sperm in patient inseminations, often discovered years later through consumer DNA testing. Supporters said the bill closes a major legal loophole and ensures that New Jersey law explicitly treats such conduct as a criminal offense.
The Assembly Appropriations Committee advanced the bill earlier this month, noting that it would carry potential fiscal impacts due to prosecution and incarceration costs but emphasizing that the ethical and legal clarity it provides outweighs those considerations.
The measure now heads to the State Senate for consideration.
The New Jersey Assembly voted unanimously to approve a bill creating the crime of fertility fraud, making it illegal for doctors to inseminate patients with their own genetic material without written consent.
