The policy was laid out in the Virginia’s 1924 Eugenical Sterilization Act, and found constitutional by the Supreme Court three years later -- a decision cited by Nazi doctors as part of their defense during the Nuremberg trials. Officials estimate that more than 7,000 Virginians were sterilized under the law, which remained on the books until 1979. Approximately 65,000 forced sterilizations were conducted nationwide.
“I wish I had a family,” said Lewis Reynolds, 86, who suffered seizures after a head injury. He was forcibly sterilized at the age of 13. Reynolds went on to serve his country for 30 years, in Korea and Vietnam.
“I just wonder what kind of daddy would I be if I had any children," he said.