BURLINGTON, Vt. – A federal court jury in Vermont has awarded a Florida woman $5.25 million from a doctor who used his own sperm to impregnate her during an artificial insemination procedure in 1977.
The federal court jury in Burlington returned the verdict on Wednesday.
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The verdict form says the jury awarded Cheryl Rousseau $250,000 in compensatory damages and $5 million in punitive damages against Dr. John Coates III.
Rousseau and Coates had agreed she would be impregnated with genetic material from an unnamed medical student.
Rousseau’s attorney Celeste Laramie said the jury found Coates’ behavior “to be wrongful and offensive.”
Coates’ attorney said they were surprised and disappointed by the verdict.