DES MOINES — Seven sets of eyes peer down from elevated chairs as legal professionals, years into their craft, flip through dense legal documents and meticulously researched arguments, all to answer one question: Can a law be applied in retrospect?
One thing is clear: Once the Iowa Supreme Court provides a decision, it will have a tremendous impact regardless of the verdict.
Despite the frigid temperatures and impending blizzard in Des Moines, Iowa, on Tuesday night, the Iowa Supreme Court courtroom was packed with Iowa’s legislators and legal experts. Prior to the proceedings, attendees were murmuring about the unusual details of the case in question.
In 2024, Bert Jay Miller and Nancy Duffner filed suit against the state of Iowa after allegedly discovering their biological father was Dr. John H. Randall — the University of Iowa’s former Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology chair who provided fertility treatment for Miller and Duffner’s parents in the 1950s.
Dr. John H. Randall headed the UI OB-GYN department from April 1952 until he died in April 1959. Over that seven-year period, court documents state Randall provided Donna and Bert Junior Miller fertility treatment, resulting in the birth of three children in 1954, 1956, and 1958.
Decades later, what was thought to be seemingly standard fertility treatment from Randall appears to have been anything but. Thanks to the emergence of publicly available DNA testing introduced by Ancestry.com in 2012, members of the Miller family discovered an anomaly while searching their records on the popular genealogical website that can assist families with tracing their individual family trees.
Randall, it appeared, may have been much more than their mother’s fertility doctor.
RELATED: UIHC OB-GYN chair from 1950s allegedly inseminated patients with own sperm
Ancestry.com uses DNA testing and historical records to provide a myriad of family tracing services for users, ranging from geographic origins to familial lineage.
By just spitting in a tube and paying a $99 fee, individuals are able to test their DNA against millions of collected samples.
“At no time during Donna Miller’s life did she indicate to her three children their biological father was anyone other than her husband, Bert Junior Miller,” documents read.
Both Bert Jay Miller and Duffner are suing the state for compensatory damages, statutory damages amounting to $200,000, court costs, and attorney fees.
Bert Jay Miller and Duffner are not the only parties filing charges against the state of Iowa regarding the alleged non-consensual insemination of patients by Randall.
Two separate lawsuits — Stoughton vs. the State of Iowa and Bright vs. the State of Iowa — have also been filed.
The facts of the Stoughton case are eerily similar to that of Bert Jay Miller and Duffner. According to court documents, Ronald Stoughton, born in 1943, and Rebecca Myers, born in 1948, were children of Marlys Stoughton. Documents state Randall assisted the family with fertility treatment, and the two children later learned via Ancestry.com that Randall was allegedly their biological father.
Randall also delivered Myers and signed her birth certificate as the attending physician, court documents show.
Elizabeth Bright, born in 1958, also filed a case against the state after discovering through Ancestry.com that her parents’ artificial insemination procedure allegedly used Randall’s sperm, making Bright his biological daughter.
In 2022, before these cases came to light, the Iowa legislature passed Iowa Code Section 714I, dubbed the Fraud in Assisted Reproduction Act, or FARA. Among other regulations, the act states medical practitioners or facilities cannot use human reproductive material “other than that to which the patient expressly consented in writing.”
The question posed to Iowa’s Supreme Court inquires if the violation of this law can be charged ex post facto, or in retrospect.
Bright vs. the State of Iowa and Stoughton vs. the State of Iowa were also brought to the Iowa Supreme Court, but the cases were not argued orally.
The legislation introducing Iowa Code Section 714I was led by Sen. Annette Sweeney, R-Buckeye, and Rep. Megan Jones, R-Sioux Rapids, who acted as floor managers for the bill. Sweeney was not immediately available for comment.
Jones provided a comment via email to The Daily Iowan, outlining her involvement with the passage of FARA.
“I was assigned to floor manage this bill, so this wasn’t a passion of mine heading into session. However, I was happy to help and learn more about the complicated issues these families are facing,” the email read. “Women and families deserve to know who they are making a baby with — it is as simple as that: consent.”
Karen Lorenzen, a lawyer with the firm Hayes Lorenzen Biderman Lawyers PLC, who argued on behalf of the Millers, began by outlining the series of events leading up to the Iowa legislature’s decision to pass FARA.
Lorenzen stated that increased direct-to-consumer DNA testing opportunities in the 2010s led to several prolific cases of illicit insemination rising to national attention.
“What came from that was a legal movement of sorts,” Lorenzen said.
Lorenzen argued that considering the context in which FARA was passed, the legislative intent — or reasoning behind why Iowa’s legislators wrote and passed a bill — would imply retroactivity.
She also pointed to three specific clauses in FARA that she argued suggested implicit retroactivity: no statutes of limitations, a clause in the law saying the action “may be commenced at any time,” and the allowance for victims and their children to pursue legal action.
In turn, Iowa’s Solicitor General Eric Wessan argued on behalf of the State of Iowa that past precedent outlined by the Iowa Supreme Court states that a specific reference to retroactivity in some way, shape, or form is necessary. Wessan cited Hedlund vs. the State of Iowa, which states Iowa courts must “presume that statutes operate only prospectively.”
In addressing Lorenzen’s statement that the Iowa legislature’s intention in enacting FARA was, in fact, to prosecute past victims of illicit insemination akin to other national and international cases, Wessan pointed to patient care norms during the time in which Randall was practicing.
Wessan stated laws regarding written consent and medical malpractice were put into place well after Randall had died in 1959. He argued requiring written consent for previous cases — regardless of Randall’s true intention in the Millers’ specific case — would not be just, considering professional norms and the somewhat recent implementation of medical regulations.
Both the appellant’s and appellee’s representation in Miller and Duffner vs. the State of Iowa were in agreement that the retroactive clause could not apply to the criminal portions of FARA, as that would violate parameters set by the U.S. Constitution.
After oral arguments, Lorenzen said in an interview with the DI that considering this case was raised to the Iowa Supreme Court after previous litigation, it is clear there is nuance regarding the idea of retrospect or retroactivity in civil law. Despite the fact that FARA does not explicitly use the word “retroactive” or “retrospective” in the copy, Lorenzen said there is room for interpretation and extrapolation.
“Not saying the magic word isn’t a walk-off home run,” Lorenzen said.
While her co-counsel Jim Hayes and Michael Biderman were unable to be present for the oral arguments, Lorenzen said the collaborative process following the case to Iowa’s highest court has been rewarding.
“We feel really privileged to bring this to the attention of the public and to the court,” she said.
Lorenzen said considering the scope of the case, she would anticipate the Iowa Supreme Court’s decision to be released in six to nine months.
UIHC public relations manager Laura Shoemaker provided a statement via email to The Daily Iowan Tuesday morning, prior to oral arguments.
“UI Health Care does not comment on pending litigation,” the statement reads. “We appreciate the district court’s dismissal of these cases, and we will urge the Iowa Supreme Court to uphold its ruling.”