A Wisconsin mother has filed a lawsuit against the fertility doctor who treated her decades ago, alleging she recently learned he used his own sperm to conceive her son rather than the sperm of the “healthy young medical school student” she says she had been promised.
Mary Ellen Lukezich, now 71, was under the care of Dr Frederick Dettmann more than 40 years ago when she underwent artificial insemination using what she believed was donor sperm.
Lukezich and her 43-year-old son, Joseph Laedtke Heider, are now suing Dettmann, who is 91, after genetic testing allegedly revealed that Heider has nine other half-siblings who were also fathered by the doctor, according to NBC.
“Words cannot fully express what it feels like to learn that your entire identity is built on a lie,” Heider said during a June news conference, ABC affiliate WISN reported.
The lawsuit, cited by the outlet, says Heider submitted his DNA to Ancestry.com in December 2024 and was stunned when the results allegedly pointed to Dettmann as his biological father.
“Upon tracing these DNA connections, Joseph identified a direct genetic link to Dr Dettmanns’ family; that upon information and belief, this genetic information established that Dr Dettmann is Joseph’s biological father,” the complaint states.
Lukezich first became Dettmann’s patient in 1982, and after medications and surgical procedures failed to help her conceive, he advised artificial insemination, the outlet reported.
According to the court filing, Dettmann assured Lukezich that the sperm would come from an anonymous donor described as a “healthy young medical school student.”
Mary Ellen Lukezich, 71, and her son, 43-year-old Joseph Laedtke Heider, are suing Dr Frederick Dettmenn claiming that Heider had nine half-siblings fathered by the fertility doctor
Lukezich was a patient of Dr Frederick Dettmann over 40 years ago when she was artificially inseminated with, what she believed was, the sperm of a student donor
The lawsuit was filed on August 6 by their attorney Al Foeckler, seen above, with the Wisconsin Health Care Liability Insurance Plan and ABC Insurance Co also listed as defendants
The lawsuit alleged that Dettmann, instead, used his own sperm during the procedure which led to the birth of her son, Joseph, the following year.
RELATED: Tupac Shakur Murder Trial Begins in Las Vegas 30 Years After Rapper’s Killing
‘The anonymous medical student donor that my mother was promised as my biological father never existed,’ Heider said at the news conference.
‘Instead, the DNA led back to one person. Doctor Frederick Dettmann, the very doctor my mom trusted to help her have a child.
The lawsuit was filed on August 6 on behalf of the mother and son by their attorney Al Foeckler, with the Wisconsin Health Care Liability Insurance Plan and ABC Insurance Co also listed as defendants.
‘These families come to fertility doctors at their most hopeful and their most helpless time,’ Foeckler said, the outlet reported.
‘Trusting completely in the physician who holds their dreams of parenthood in their hands. Dr Frederick Dettmann preyed on that desperation. He exploited that trust.’
The since-retired doctor denied any wrongdoing in a statement submitted by his legal team on his behalf.
‘The events referenced are alleged to have occurred almost 50 years ago. Dr Dettmann has no independent recollection of the individuals making these allegations and is unaware of any evidence supporting the claims being asserted,’ the statement said, according to WISN.
According to the filing, Dettmann told her that the donor would be an anonymous ‘healthy young medical school student’
The since-retired doctor denied any wrongdoing in a statement submitted by his legal team on his behalf
According to Whitefish Bay police records, Dettmann had been accused of assaulting a woman during a genealogical exam in 1985, TMJ 4 reported.
No charges were issued, citing that proving the assault would be ‘too difficult,’ according to the outlet.
The Daily Mail reached out to Wisconsin Health Care Liability Insurance Plan and ABC Insurance Co. and attempted to reach Lukezich, Heider and Dettmann for comment.
