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WARD COUNTY, North Dakota (The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead Newspaper) — A newly filed civil case in Ward County alleges a fertility doctor there secretly substituted his own genetic material during insemination procedures, resulting in the births of two girls in the mid-1980s.
Tasheena Greaves and Janae Nelson Raymond did not discover that Dr. Dennis Lutz was their biological father until recent DNA testing, according to the complaint, filed Monday, July 27.
The women’s mother, Jean Ann Nelson, now of Mandan, sought fertility treatment from Lutz and became pregnant as a result of his medical procedures three times, the suit said. The first pregnancy ended in miscarriage but the two subsequent ones resulted in the births of Greaves, on Feb. 14, 1985, and Nelson Raymond, on May 22, 1986, according to court documents. Lutz was practicing in Minot at the time.
The suit claims Lutz told Nelson that mixing donor sperm with her husband Warren’s sperm would make it more likely that she would conceive a child from her husband’s genetic material, even though that representation “is generally inconsistent with basic principles of sperm competition and reproductive biology.”
Instead of using donor sperm, the suit alleges, Lutz used his own and never disclosed it to Nelson.
“Dr. Lutz’s conduct was intentional, knowing, and undertaken with conscious disregard for Plaintiff’s rights, and was not the result of mistake, accident, or medical judgment,” the complaint said.
Kellen Bubach and James Hoy, of Fargo’s Maring Williams Law Office, are the attorneys for Nelson, Greaves and Nelson Raymond in the suit.
Nelson now lives in Mandan, while Greaves lives in Crosby and Nelson Raymond resides in Utah.
Lutz is a resident of New Mexico, according to court documents. He serves as the chair of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at the University of North Dakota’s medical school.
The initial version of the complaint named a hospital where Lutz was once employed, but Lutz is the sole defendant listed in the amended version of the complaint. Lutz was in private practice at the time of the alleged conduct, according to court documents.
The suit claims the discovery that Lutz had fathered Greaves and Nelson Raymond caused “severe emotional distress and identity-related harm” to both women and their mother, the three of whom are the named plaintiffs in the suit.
In addition, the suit alleges that the women’s DNA testing revealed “additional individuals identified as potential half-siblings, suggesting that additional conceptions involving Dr. Lutz’s genetic material may have occurred.”
“The conduct described herein implicates not only the rights of the named Plaintiffs but also raises substantial concerns regarding whether similar conduct affected other patients treated by Dr. Lutz during the same time period and throughout his medical practice,” the complaint said.
The suit accuses Lutz of several counts of fraud, medical battery, breach of fiduciary duty, intentional infliction of emotional distress and intentional concealment of biological parentage.
In a statement, Bubach said the case is about “patient consent, reproductive autonomy, medical trust, and the right of children to know the truth about their genetic identity and medical history.”
“The allegations involve the alleged misuse of reproductive material by a physician in one of the most intimate and vulnerable medical settings,” he said. “The Nelson family is coming forward because they are appalled by the alleged conduct, want accountability, and are concerned that other patients or families may have been affected.”
Bubach urged “anyone with relevant information” to contact his office.
The women are seeking damages in excess of $50,000 and a jury trial in the case.
In a statement, UND Assistant Vice President for Communications David Dodds confirmed that Lutz is a current professor and chair of the OB-GYN department, based at the medical school’s Minot campus.
“The University was unaware of the allegations that have been brought to light today by way of a lawsuit filed in Ward County District Court regarding Dr. Lutz. The University does not comment on personnel matters or personal legal situations and has no further comment at this time,” the statement read.
Lutz’s attorney, Angela Elsperger Lord of the Vogel Law Firm, did not immediately respond to The Forum’s request for comment on the suit.
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