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Doctor Accused of Using Own Sperm on Patient
12 Aug
Summary
- A woman alleges her doctor used his own sperm for artificial insemination.
- A DNA test revealed the doctor as the biological father decades later.
- The mother and son are suing for unspecified damages.
A Wisconsin woman and her son have filed a lawsuit alleging that their longtime OB-GYN, Dr. Frederick Dettmann, used his own sperm to inseminate her during artificial insemination in 1980. Mary Ellen Lukezich and her son, Joseph Laedtke Heider, claim Dettmann, then a fertility specialist, never disclosed he was using his own sperm instead of a donor's. Lukezich underwent the procedure in 1980 to conceive, giving birth to Joseph in 1983.
Decades later, in 2024, Joseph discovered through an Ancestry.com DNA test that Dr. Dettmann was his biological father. The test also indicated the existence of numerous half-siblings. The lawsuit, filed in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, seeks unspecified damages. Dettmann, now 91 and retired, denies the allegations, with his attorney stating he has no recollection of the individuals and no evidence supports the claims.
