Donor Sperm Scandal
Family Alleges Wisconsin OB-GYN Used His Own Sperm for Insemination Decades Ago
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A Wisconsin family says their OB-GYN secretly used his own sperm to conceive their son in the early 1980s — instead of the anonymous medical student donor they had agreed to. The family of Mary Ellen Lukezich and her late husband, Thomas Laedtke, allege that Dr. Frederick Dettmann of Milwaukee carried out the deception, a claim that came to light only after their son took an AncestryDNA test NBC News.
The son, also named Tom, discovered nine half-siblings through the DNA test. All of them traced back to Dettmann. Tom described the revelation as "re-writing my entire identity" NBC News. Wisconsin authorities declined to press criminal charges, citing no law against such acts at the time they occurred FOX6 Milwaukee.
How a DNA Test Unraveled a 40-Year Secret
Mary Ellen and Thomas turned to Dr. Dettmann for fertility help in 1981 and 1982. He told them the donor was a medical student who matched Thomas's physical traits Associated Press. Their son Tom was born in August 1983. For nearly four decades, the family believed him to be the product of that anonymous student donor.
In 2021, Tom took an AncestryDNA test out of curiosity. The results shocked him. He found several unknown half-siblings. By 2022 and 2023, he had identified nine total Wisconsin State Journal. Using Ancestry's genealogy tools and public records, the group traced their shared biological father to Dr. Dettmann. Thomas Laedtke never learned the truth — he died before the discovery was made Associated Press.
Nine Half-Siblings Point to a Pattern of Deception
Tom is not alone. At least nine individuals have now linked their DNA directly to Dettmann through consumer testing FOX6 Milwaukee. Experts say this number suggests a repeated pattern, not an isolated incident. Nationwide, more than 50 U.S. doctors have been identified through DNA testing as having used their own sperm without patient consent, according to the advocacy group Donor Deceived.
Mary Ellen says the betrayal runs deep. "We trusted him with our future, and he used us for his own ego," she said FOX6 Milwaukee. Bioethicist Arthur Caplan called acts like this "the ultimate violation of the doctor-patient relationship" Reuters. The family is now represented by Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane Conway and Wise, a law firm that specializes in fertility fraud cases.
No Criminal Charges Possible Under 1980s Wisconsin Law
Wisconsin authorities reviewed the claims but declined to pursue criminal charges. Their reasoning: no law existed in 1982 that specifically banned a doctor from using his own sperm. The Waukesha County District Attorney's Office said that while the conduct was "morally reprehensible," they could not retroactively charge a felony FOX6 Milwaukee.
Fertility medicine in the 1970s and 80s was largely unregulated. Sperm was often treated as a medical "service" rather than a matter of biological consent, according to University of Wisconsin legal scholars. The family has zero access to criminal restitution under current Wisconsin law for incidents before 2020, according to the Wisconsin Department of Justice.
Civil Lawsuit and Push for New Fertility Fraud Laws
With criminal charges off the table, the family's main path forward is civil litigation. Their lawyers are targeting Dettmann's estate. The case has also pushed Wisconsin lawmakers to consider a new "fertility fraud" law — similar to ones already passed in Indiana and Kentucky — that would make such actions a felony Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
A key provision being debated would start the statute of limitations only after a victim discovers the DNA evidence — not from the date of the act itself. The case also highlights a broader shift: consumer DNA tests have effectively ended the anonymity of sperm donors, whether fraudulent or not Wired.
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