Overview
- The complaint, filed Thursday in Milwaukee County Circuit Court, alleges Dr. Frederick Dettmann secretly inseminated Mary Ellen Lukezich with his own sperm during a 1982 fertility procedure and names her adult son as co‑plaintiff.
- The son discovered the link after submitting an Ancestry.com test in December 2024 that revealed multiple half‑siblings connected to Dettmann’s family, which plaintiffs say suggests the doctor fathered other children.
- Dettmann, now 91 and retired in Arizona, denies the allegations through his attorney and says he has no independent recollection or evidence to support the claims.
- Plaintiffs’ lawyers say several other women have contacted them since the family went public, and the suit asks the court to determine damages at trial while urging potential former patients to come forward.
- Investigators and reporters note obstacles to criminal or licensing action because a 1985 police complaint produced no charges and older records may have been destroyed, a dynamic that mirrors other cases uncovered by consumer DNA testing.