North Dakota fertility doctor sued for secretly using own sperm in treatments

A fertility doctor is being sued for using his own sperm during artificial insemination procedures without the patient's knowledge or consent.

Dr Dennis Lutz used his own sperm repeatedly when treating patient Jean Ann Nelson at the Medical Arts Clinic in Minot, North Dakota, during the 1980s. Nelson and her two daughters, Tasheena Greaves and Janae Nelson Raymond, filed the complaint in North Dakota's North Central Judicial District. DNA testing has confirmed both daughters as Dr Lutz's biological children.

When Greaves showed her mother the DNA test that identified her donor, Nelson 'started crying', she told the New York Times. 'That was my doctor.' She added: 'I was dependent on him to help me. It wasn't right for him to do that.'

According to court documents, Dr Lutz told Nelson that mixing donor sperm with her husband's would raise the odds that her husband would be the biological father – a claim with no scientific basis. Even at the time, a 1980 study of over 200 patients had found no real difference in conception rates between mixed and donor-only insemination, while an earlier 1977 study warned mixing could lower chances of conception.

Dr Lutz's court filing admits Nelson did not consent to the use of his specific genetic material and that he intentionally concealed the true source of the sperm. However, he denied wrongdoing overall, arguing that his 'conduct was aligned with the state of fertility medicine at the time' and that Nelson agreed to anonymous donor sperm and never to seek the donor's identity.

In response to the revelations, Dr Lutz's current employer, the University of North Dakota, has removed him as chair of the OB-GYN department and stated it is taking steps to terminate his employment.

Nelson's daughters have identified at least seven potential half-siblings through DNA testing, indicating that Dr Lutz may have used his own sperm in the treatment of other patients.

'The allegations involve the alleged misuse of reproductive material by a physician in one of the most intimate and vulnerable medical settings,' said the women's lawyer, Kellen Bubach. He added that the family 'want accountability, and are concerned that other patients or families may have been affected.'

Nelson and her daughters are seeking damages exceeding US$50,000 each for 'loss of reproductive autonomy' and 'identity-related harm'.

The increased use of DNA testing has exposed similar cases worldwide, including Indianapolis-based Dr Donald Cline, who fathered over 94 children (see BioNews 1147), and Drs Jan Wildschut and Jan Karbaat in the Netherlands, who each fathered more than 40 children (see BioNews 1067 and 996).