Twins learn doctor is their dad — and he secretly inseminated mom in 1984, suit says
After taking DNA tests, twin siblings discovered they had half-siblings with the same last name as the doctor their mother saw for fertility services four decades ago, according to a new lawsuit.
Dr. Joseph Plautz, a Nevada OB-GYN, is accused of using his semen to inseminate Gayle Fedele without her knowing on June 17, 1984, leading to the birth of her twins, a lawsuit filed against his estate says.
McClatchy News was unable to contact the administrator of his estate on April 3.
Plautz, who died in 2015, performed the artificial insemination procedure at his medical practice, Deseret Women’s Health Care, at St. Rose de Lima Hospital in Henderson, Nevada, according to an amended complaint filed April 2.
Fedele thought the sperm he used came from a Wyoming sperm bank, and the donor was likely a medical student — because that’s what Plautz told her at the time, the complaint says.
Plautz also joked the donor could be a “ski bum” from Wyoming, according to the complaint.
Plautz repeated this joke to Fedele’s daughter, Allison Vece, years later when Vece became his patient and asked about her mother’s sperm donor, the complaint says.
She was around 17-years-old when she had her first gynecological exam with Plautz, who also continued to see her mother as a patient, according to the filing, which says Vece was unaware he “was her biological father.”
Since Vece had “severe migraines” and a variety of other health issues, Fedele wanted to learn more about her sperm donor, the complaint says.
Plautz told Fedele that the donor’s medical records were destroyed in a fire at the Wyoming sperm bank, the Rocky Mountain Cryobank in Jackson Hole, according to the complaint.
She trusted Plautz, but never found any record or evidence of a fire when she did some digging in 2022 and learned the sperm bank closed in 2009, the filing says.
A few years after Plautz died at his home in Henderson on Aug. 22, 2015, Fedele’s son took a DNA test in March 2021, according to the complaint.
Kevin Phelps, who is Vece’s twin, didn’t know Plautz performed his mother’s artificial insemination and found several half-siblings following the DNA test, the complaint says.
He “assumed” they were “related to the random sperm donor” and didn’t share the results, the complaint states.
‘Devastated and outraged’
In May 2022, Vece became curious about the test results after watching the Netflix documentary “Our Father” about a doctor accused of fertility fraud and using his sperm to impregnate unknowing patients, according to the filing.
When Phelps shared the results with Vece, she “immediately recognized that relatives with the last name Plautz were likely related to Dr. Plautz” and that they looked like her and her brother, the complaint says.
Vece called her mother crying and shared her suspicion that Plautz was likely her biological father, according to the complaint, which says Fedele “was devastated and outraged.”
Plautz’s obituary lists 13 of his children: 10 who survived him and three children, two daughters and one son, who died before him.
Between June 2022 and July 2022, Vece took two different DNA tests, one from 23&Me and Ancestry DNA, the complaint says.
The tests “confirmed that Ms. Vece had numerous half-siblings who are Dr. Plautz’s biological children,” according to the complaint.
Fedele, Vece and Phelps, who now live in Connecticut, are suing Plautz’s estate, Deseret Women’s Health Care and Dignity Health, formerly known as St. Rose de Lima Hospital for more than $60,000 in damages. Dignity Health is a part of CommonSpirit, a nonprofit health care system.
Dignity Health spokesman Gordon M. Absher told McClatchy News in a statement on April 3 that “CommonSpirit Health doesn’t comment on pending litigation.”
“We are, however, concerned by the media reports on this situation and our thoughts are with these families as they seek clarity,” Absher said.
The lawsuit, which also lists unidentified medical facilities, corporations and companies as defendants, accuses the defendants of negligence, fertility fraud and more.
McClatchy News attempted to contact Plautz’s wife, the former administrator of his estate, for comment on April 3.
A phone number listed for Deseret Women’s Health Care appears to be no longer in service.
What happened to Fedele during her artificial insemination procedure was “despicable and disgusting,” the complaint says.
Plautz secretly used his sperm “without any screening or actions to ensure that there was no risk of genetic risk of conditions or illnesses that risk the health and safety of Ms. Fedele’s children,” the complaint also states.
Plautz delivered thousands of babies during his career while seeing patients from Henderson, Boulder City and Las Vegas, his obituary says.
He also delivered Fedele’s children, according to the complaint.
Fedele, Vece and Phelps declined to comment on the lawsuit, their attorney Christian Morris told McClatchy News.
They’re trying to re-open Plautz’s estate to identify an administrator until one can be appointed, the lawsuit shows.
Christen Whitney, the attorney who represented Plautz’s wife in 2016 in connection with his estate, told the Las Vegas Review-Journal he didn’t know about the lawsuit.
He said the accusations against Plautz were “hard to believe,” according to the newspaper.
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