OTTAWA—With his resemblance to actor Dustin Hoffman and a soft-spoken Nelson Mandela-like voice, Dr. Norman Barwin seems like one of the last people you might expect to find embroiled in a controversy.
His credentials and awards could fill a wall — from community service awards to the Order of Canada. He has penned dozens of medical articles and a scholarship bears his name. He and his wife are pillars of Ottawa’s Jewish community and are regularly mentioned in the society pages.
But Barwin, a fertility specialist, is up to his neck in controversy at the moment, accused of using the wrong sperm to inseminate two patients.
The patients have filed separate suits in Ontario’s Superior Court, asking for a total of $3 million in damages and the names of the donors who fathered their children. Moreover, they are asking the court to order Barwin be tested to determine whether he used his own sperm to inseminate the two women.
While the allegations have not been proven in court, the lawsuit has resulted in headlines across the country.
Barwin has declined interviews but in a 2001 interview with the Ottawa Citizen, he said inseminating a patient with the wrong sperm was his “worst nightmare.”
It’s not the first time that Barwin, 72, has found himself in the midst of controversy or of conflict.
Born in South Africa to Russian and Lithuanian parents, Barwin left South Africa’s apartheid regime in the 1960s to study in Belfast, Northern Ireland.
Speaking to Carleton University graduates last year after receiving an honorary doctorate, Barwin gave a hint of the conflict he witnessed in those two countries.
“Having been brought up in South Africa, as you can tell by my funny accent, during the apartheid regime, I witnessed the trial of my hero Nelson Mandela. Having lived in Northern Ireland and again witnessed animosity and hatred, this time because of religion, and now having lived in Canada for over 30 years, I appreciate the great privilege and freedom we have to obtain education here in this diverse and multiracial country full with opportunity.”
Sometimes described as a maverick, Barwin has usually been at the forefront of sexual health issues ever since he moved to Canada in 1973. In the late 1970s, he set up the first sexual health clinics in Ottawa’s public high schools and at one point went around Ottawa in an old school bus dubbed the “Sex Bus” distributing sexual health information.
A former president of Planned Parenthood and currently president of Canadians for Choice, Barwin has been an outspoken advocate for abortion rights and was one of those who proposed Dr. Henry Morgentaler for the Order of Canada — a controversial award that prompted some recipients to resign from the order.
As an infertility specialist, Barwin has helped many women, including lesbian couples and single women, start families. He has also treated transgender patients in their quest to realize their sexual identity.
Barwin says the hope and strength of his patients inspires him.
“I have been a physician for over 45 years and each day I’m inspired by my patients,” he told Carleton grads.
However, being at the leading edge on issues as sensitive as sexual health and abortion can sometimes take a toll.
“I know Dr. Barwin had quite a few (pieces of) hate mail,” recalls Patricia LaRue, executive director of Canadians for Choice and an unabashed admirer of him. “He had protesters outside his children’s school when his children were younger.”
Despite a busy schedule that often sees him sending emails at 3 a.m. or 4 a.m., Barwin advocates balancing work and personal lives.
“Find a balance in your life,” he advised Carleton grads. “Certainly seek to have a rich, full, and satisfying work life but ensure you find the same richness, fullness and satisfaction in your personal life.”
Friends describe Barwin as a devoted father of four and grandfather of 10 who has transformed the basement of his Ottawa home into a playroom complete with a climbing set for his grandchildren.
Katherine McDonald, who has served with Barwin on the boards of different groups, said he is quick to offer his home for meetings and takes delight in cooking for guests.
Barwin lists his hobbies as tennis, skiing, cycling and gourmet cooking. However, he announced in 2002 that he was quitting marathon races after he was caught cheating in Ottawa’s National Capital Marathon and the Boston Marathon. At the time he said he did it to experience the thrill of crossing the finish line despite problems with a hernia that acted up.
However, that doesn’t seem to matter to the women who head to his fertility clinic and write glowing tributes on websites such as ratemds.com
LaRue says Barwin’s concern for sexual health stems from his concern for women.
“He deeply cares about women and about women’s rights and making sure that women can become mothers if that’s what they want to be. He’s really devoted to helping women.”
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