How Many Children Does Dr. Quincy Fortier From HBO's Baby God Have?
The following article includes allegations of child abuse.
Imagine that there is one thing in the world that you want more than anything, but it is out of your own power to get it. Then one day someone comes along and tells you that they can help you achieve what you desire and help you achieve your dream. Though it sounds too good to be true, you take a chance, and miraculously, this person manages to give you exactly what you always wanted. You go on with your life believing you have achieved the impossible before you learn that everything you believed for years was not exactly what it seemed.
This is essentially what happened to many women who were patients of "fertility specialist" Dr. Quincy Fortier. According to The Guardian, this man, who was even named Nevada's doctor of the year, violated the patients who trusted him in one of the worst ways imaginable. While they sought him out to help with their fertility issues, he took advantage of them and impregnated many of them with his own sperm without their consent.
Who Was Dr. Quincy Fortier?
Quincy Fortier was born on September 16, 1912, and grew up in Shrewsbury, Massachusetts (per Legacy). He pursued his medical doctorate at the University of Minnesota and after completing his education he began his career in medicine. His career included working in hospitals and in various medical roles during his time in the military. Eventually he specialized in obstetrics and gynecology. Following his military service he opened Women's Hospital in the 1960s in Las Vegas, Nevada.
Over his decades-long career, Fortier developed quite a reputation as a respected physician. He had a rather impressive track record of helping women who were struggling with fertility issues to get pregnant and have families (per The Guardian). Fortier was practicing a specialty that was still a bit taboo at the time, but his reported successes are what brought women to him for help. These women trusted him and ultimately he did help many of them conceive and have children, though they would later learn that Fortier was not the man they perceived him to be.
Fortier Was A Fraud
Infertility is defined as the inability to conceive children (per The Center For Disease Control and Prevention). Unfortunately, this can be an issue for many couples looking to have babies and grow their families. In the past, even mere discussions of women's health were taboo, especially when it came to matters of infertility. For a woman to seek help for an issue such as this one was also difficult because of the limited number of resources available to help with this issue. Yet after struggling to get pregnant, 22 year old Cathy Holm reportedly found Dr. Fortier and his clinic in the phonebook, before eventually becoming one of his patients .
According to The Guardian, Fortier helped Holm and her husband conceive, much to the couple's joy. Holm gave birth to a healthy baby girl 9 months later, giving the couple the family they always wanted. Nothing was thought to be amiss until that baby girl, Wend Babst, grew up and began to explore her family roots. In 2018, she got a DNA test and got some surprising results. Not only was her father not her biological father, she had numerous half siblings she had never even heard of. As it would turn out, the doctor who had helped her mother conceive, was actually her biological father as well. Even more alarming was the fact that she was not the only one.
Multiple Lawsuits Were Filed
Babst was not the first person to come to the realization that her biological father was Dr. Fortier. In 1996 a lawsuit was brought against Fortier by a woman named Mary Craddock. She believed Fortier had inseminated her with his sperm instead of her husband's on two separate occasions in 1974 and 1976 (per Las Vegas Review-Journal). It was later confirmed via DNA testing that Fortier was in fact the father of Craddock's two children. An unknown settlement was eventually reached.
According to the Las Vegas Review-Journal, there was a nearly identical lawsuit that was brought against Fortier, making the same claims as Craddock. Wouldn't you know it, the outcome was also the same when the DNA came back confirming that Fortier was the father of her two children as well. This case was also settled out of court, though Fortier was never convicted of any crimes and was never forced to admit openly what he did.
He Allegedly Committed Other Heinous Crimes
As if impregnating multiple women with his biological children without their consent wasn't bad enough, Dr. Fortier was also accused of something even more despicable. The doctor adopted his wife's daughter, Connie. At the age of 17, she miraculously turned up pregnant despite reportedly never having sex (per Women's Health). She did give birth to a son in 1965 named Jonathan Stensland, whom she put up for adoption.
This begs the question of how Connie ended up pregnant in the first place. She concluded that her adoptive father must have done this to her, following a gynecological exam shortly before she realized she was pregnant. She then also accused Fortier of molesting her from the time that she was 4 years old, and other siblings claimed to have been molested as well. When her son was an adult, he sought out his biological parents and was informed that Fortier was his biological father. Fortier reportedly explained his adopted daughter's pregnancy as an "accident" due to "mixed-up two cotton swabs" — one of them had his semen on it for reasons that are unclear. According to The Guardian no charges were ever brought against Dr. Fortier.
If you or someone you know may be the victim of child abuse, please contact the Childhelp National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-4-A-Child (1-800-422-4453) or contact their live chat services.
The Number of Children He Fathered Is Unknown
A film featuring some of the children of Dr. Quincy Fortier was produced in 2020 called Baby God. It investigates the story of Fortier's life, particularly his medical career, and examines the lives of the children whom he created with his unsuspecting patients. While there were a couple of cases brought against Fortier in the mid-1990s, many of his children didn't discover that he was their father until decades later.
According to Women's Health, one of those was Wendi Babst, a retired sheriff who is now an adjunct professor in Oregon. A man named Dr. Brad Gulko was born the same year as Babst. He became an engineer and scientist and later discovered that Fortier was his biological father. In 1949, Mike Otis was born to his mother, Dorthy, who reportedly was not even trying to conceive at the time and saw Fortier for a simple infection. Connie's son whom she gave up for adoption, Jonathan Stenland, actually met his father/ adoptive grandfather who tried to explain away his conception as an accident.
There are three other children who appear in the film that Fortier raised himself. When his son Quincy Fortier Jr., was asked about his father, he referred to him as 'crazy' and a 'pervert' who molested him and his siblings. In contrast, one of his adoptive daughters denies the allegations, while the other simply says she doesn't want to know. Right now the number of children who have discovered Dr. Quincy Fortier is their father is 24, but the true number is unknown.