Lawsuit: Former Fertility Doctor Used Own Sperm to Impregnate Patient without Her Knowledge
DNA testing linked the son to several half-siblings, prompting the family to allege the doctor used his own sperm instead of an anonymous donor.
- On Thursday, Mary Ellen Lukezich and her son, Joseph Laedtke, filed a lawsuit in Milwaukee County Circuit Court against former OB-GYN Doctor Frederick Dettmann, alleging he secretly used his own sperm for artificial insemination in the early 1980s.
- Lukezich sought fertility treatment decades ago, believing the donor was a 'healthy young medical school student.' Laedtke submitted his DNA to Ancestry in 2024, discovering multiple half-siblings with genetic links to Dettmann.
- Attorney Al Foeckler said Dettmann 'preyed on that desperation' and 'exploited that trust,' while Laedtke stated his entire identity was 'built on a lie' after discovering the donor promised never existed.
- Dettmann, now 91 and living in Scottsdale, Arizona, cannot comment on patient care due to HIPAA, his legal team said. He claims 'no independent recollection' of events from nearly 50 years ago.
- Whitefish Bay Police records show Dettmann was accused of assaulting a woman during a gynecological exam in 1985. Investigators declined to charge him, citing the burden of proof would be 'too difficult' at the time.
48 Articles
48 Articles
Woman, son sue after finding out fertility clinic’s doctor was sperm donor
DNA sample uncovers shocking secret that fertility doctor impregnated mom without consent
More than 40 years after Mary Ellen Lukezich sought fertility treatment, she says her son made a shocking discovery: the anonymous donor was the doctor who treated her, using his own sperm to impregnate her without her knowledge or consent.
abc 15 Arizona
Arizona-licensed doctor accused of using his own sperm to inseminate patients in Wisconsin
A Wisconsin lawsuit is making national headlines by accusing a doctor who holds an Arizona medical license of using his own sperm to inseminate patients without their knowledge.
A woman from Wisconsin in the United States and her son sued a fertility doctor after a DNA test revealed that the professional would be the biological father of the man. The action was presented on Thursday (6) against doctor Frederick Dettmann, today at 91 years, more than four decades after the patient was subjected to an artificial insemination.
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