First Lawsuit Filed Against Fertility Dr. Paul Jones Accuses Him Of Deception

(CBS4) - A family that used to live in Grand Junction filed a civil lawsuit Monday against fertility doctor Paul Brennan Jones -- accusing him of substituting his own sperm for that of an anonymous donor and fathering two women -- who  both now suggest Jones deceived their mother. In multiple phone conversations with CBS4, Jones refused to address the accusations.

"I'm not talking to anyone for this," Jones said. An attorney believed to be representing Jones did not respond to calls and emails from CBS4.

A CBS4 Investigation reported Monday that nine women and men in Colorado and across the country now believe they are the offspring of the fertility doctor who treated their mothers in the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. They say DNA testing shows they are all half-siblings and that the testing shows they are all related to the Jones family.

What they all have in common is that their mothers were treated by Jones for fertility problems at his Grand Junction clinic. Most of the women believed at the time they were inseminated by anonymous sperm donors. They now believe Jones substituted his own sperm.

In the lawsuit filed this week by sisters Maia Boring and Tahnee Scott, they say their mother was a patient of Dr. Jones and underwent seven artificial insemination procedures.

They claim "he used his own 'fresh' sperm instead of an anonymous donors "fresh" sperm as agreed. Dr. Jones explained to (the mother) that he would obtain the "fresh" sperm from a donor who was in good health and was either a medical or law student."

The woman had her first daughter, Maia, in 1980, then returned to Jones four or five years later to again undergo artificial insemination. She said the doctor again assured her he would obtain "fresh" sperm from either a medical or law student. The woman had her second daughter, Tahnee, in 1985.

The first daughter - Maia Boring - entered her DNA into the Ancestry.com database in 2018 according to the lawsuit  and learned the man she thought was her father was not a genetic relative.

Boring was soon contacted by another woman who had also submitted her DNA into the same database and determined the two of them were half-sisters through the same donor father.

When Boring's sister, Tahnee Scott submitted her DNA to the database, the lawsuit says "she discovered the same thing, that she and Dr. Jones were related."

Their mother says if she had known Jones was going to use his own sperm instead of that of a donor, "she would have never consented to Dr. Jones using his own sperm to artificially inseminate her."

The woman and her daughters say in their lawsuit that Dr. Jones concealed what he was doing.

Patrick Fitz-Gerald, the attorney for the women told CBS4 he has also filed a complaint against Dr. Jones with Colorado's medical licensing authorities. Jones holds a current Colorado medical license and state records show he has never been disciplined.

Another woman now living in Denver and interviewed by CBS4, believes her mother was similarly deceived by Dr. Jones. She too plans to file a lawsuit against Jones. She said her mother, a patient of Dr. Jones, was led to believe she was being inseminated by an anonymous donor. The woman, now in her early 30s, said DNA testing in 2018 has now shown that her biological father is part of the Jones family and that she has half-siblings across the country who she never knew about.

"It shakes your identity and where you fit in this world and that was extremely difficult," she said. She asked CBS4 not to reveal her identity.

The woman has hired Denver based attorney Paula Greisen to pursue the case.

"If the dots are connected and [Dr. Jones] does turn out to be the donor, there's just a basic question of morality," said Greisen. "If he is not the donor, I invite him to share with us who is. What member of his family served as the donor, unbeknownst to my client?"

Although Jones refused to discuss the accusations with CBS4, he told KUSA-TV investigative reporter Chris Vanderveen,"I don't deny it. I don't admit it." Vanderveen reported Jones initially said he would not take a DNA test, saying "Because I don't want to have any incriminating evidence against me."

Fitz-Gerald, the attorney who filed Monday's lawsuit, said his clients want Jones "to admit what he's done. They abhor his behavior."

Read the newly filed civil lawsuit here.