A California couple is suing a fertility doctor for allegedly impregnating the wife with a stranger's sperm instead of her husband's in the 1980s. The couple, identified as Jane and John Roe in the complaint, claim Dr Hal C Danzer committed 'medical rape' by using donor sperm without consent during intrauterine insemination. They only discovered the mix-up this year after their twin daughters, born in 1986, took DNA tests that showed no biological link to their father.
According to the lawsuit, the couple sought help from Dr Danzer at the Los Angeles Fertility Institute in 1983 after failing to conceive naturally. After several unsuccessful attempts, they conceived twins in April 1984, but the babies died shortly after premature birth. Further attempts led to the birth of healthy twin girls in June 1986. Decades later, in January, one daughter took a DNA test after having her own child and was shocked to find no paternal match. Her twin confirmed the result in February, revealing the father had 50 per cent Ashkenazi Jewish DNA, inconsistent with John's Greek heritage.
The couple says the discovery has caused severe emotional distress. Jane describes feeling 'medically raped' by a trusted physician and struggles with shame. John has sunk into depression, feeling his identity as a father has been stripped away, and worries that his own sperm may have been used on other women. The family also uncovered 16 paternal half-siblings born in Los Angeles between 1971 and 1992, all linked to Danzer's former partner.
Additional distress arose from the biological father's medical history, which includes high blood pressure, breast cancer, and Alzheimer's disease. The donor died at 63 from liposarcoma. The couple is suing Danzer for medical battery, fraud, emotional distress, negligence, and breach of good faith, demanding a jury trial.
