Artificial insemination is growing in popularity these days. More and more families are turning to this route, being their only option for conceiving. There could be a multitude of reasons why infertility happens, and most of the time it is out of our control. This is a very tricky procedure and one that requires a lot of trust in your fertility doctor. Can you imagine what it must feel like to have the doctor meant to help start your family betray your trust? This is not something you have probably imagined feeling, because it is not something you would ever expect.
Well, Morgan Helquist and David Berry, and many others, found themselves to be victims of a fertility fraud scam. In Morgan’s case, she found out that her gynecologist, Dr. Morris Wortman, was her sperm-donor father, with whom she shared with David, and many other half-siblings. You might pass this off as a coincidence, but the weird part is that he knew the whole time he treated her. In an interview with Good Morning America, Morgan wept saying that he knew it all along. “He knew the whole time who he was and I didn’t.”
Morgan Helquist
Morgan’s mother, Jo Ann Levy, and her husband, Gary, wanted to have a child, but they were unable to do it the conventional way due to Gary being a paraplegic since he was 20-years old. They turned to Dr. Wortman for help, and they made a deal to get an anonymous donor from the students at the University of Rochester Medical Center in exchange for $50 thee times per month.
Morgan was born, and when she was eight years old, she learned of her origin. Her family was so proud of her and they praised Wortman for making Morgan possible. Morgan grew up idolizing Wortman for the good he believed he had done for her family. Morgan even transferred from her doctor to be a patient of Wortman’s and was treated by him for up to 10 years.
When the man who raised her passed away, Morgan decided to do a DNA test to see if she could learn something about her lineage. She was shocked to see that her results showed her that she was actually “100% Ashkenazi Jewish”, which just so happened to be the same as Wortman who is of the same DNA group.
She was even more surprised to find her half-brother after she did her DNA test, and her name is David Berry, who is now 37-years old. After discovering David, she found more half-siblings.
Morgan said, “Then there were five of us. And we were all the same age.” she went on saying. Then six, and then seven. And it started to feel like, well, if there’s seven there might be 20. And if there’s 20, there might be 100, and I started to feel terrified.”
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Her Half Brother, David Berry
David Berry had also taken a DNA test. In fact, this was where he found out that his dad was not his biological father. But at the same time, he was surprised to see that he had multiple half-siblings. All with whom he shared a father. Once he found the details of Morgan Helquist, one of his half-siblings, he contacted her and they met up in person.
Helquist mentioned in an interview with ABC News, “We were just talking, I grabbed his face, I just looked and I was like, ‘Why is your face on my face?'” Their search for their half-siblings continued, but as more and more surfaced, the only common denominator in their equation was that they all had been artificially inseminated by the very same doctor that Morgan’s mother used, Dr. Morris Wortman. This was when the penny dropped, and they had to confirm what they were beginning to believe.
Fertility Scam
Morgan got hold of Dr. Wortman’s daughter whom he had conceived with one of his many marriages. She was his daughter, and when Morgan convinced her to take a DNA test, she found out that they did, in fact, share a father. The truth came out that Dr. Wortman had wrongfully inseminated his patients with his own sperm without their consent or knowledge of what he was doing.
Karen Berry, David’s mother told AABC News, “He had my permission to use a donor, specifically a medical student, he did not have my permission to use his sperm for a donation.” According to Morgan her mother was distraught over this discovery. She told the Rochester Democrat & Chronicle, “My mom feels so violated, she said ‘I feel like he raped me.’ She feels like all of it is her fault.”
“I am the product of something that should have never happened with an unconscionable violation of ethics, at a minimum.” raged Berry, Morgan opened a lawsuit against Wortman but was infuriated to find out that the state of New York does not recognize fertility fraud as a criminal offense. Luckily, the laws are being revised regarding this outrageous scandal.
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Sources
- “Man, woman describe learning they were half-siblings after alleged fertility fraud.” NY Post. Asia Grace. April 1, 2021.
- “I found out my gynecologist was my secret dad — and he knew it.” Good Morning America. April 1, 2022.