(CNN) — A New York gynecologist who was accused by a woman of secretly using his own sperm to impregnate multiple patients died Sunday in a plane crash.
Morris Wortman, 72, of Rochester, New York, died when the experimental plane in which he was a passenger crashed into a pasture in western New York, according to a news release from the county sheriff’s office. of Orleans. The pilot of the aircraft, Earl J. Luce Jr, 70, also died, according to the sheriff’s office.
Preliminary investigations indicate that the wings detached from the aircraft and landed in an orchard and what was left of the aircraft moved forward briefly before crashing, the sheriff’s office said. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the crash, according to the news release.
Wortman was the director of the Center for Menstrual Disorders, a Rochester medical practice founded in 1986 dedicated to women’s reproductive health care and services, according to his website.
He was also described on the page as a “world-class aviator.”
Accused of being a “serial sperm donor”
In 2021, Wortman, along with his medical practice, was sued for allegedly using his own sperm to impregnate a woman who was trying to get pregnant through a sperm donor.
The woman’s daughter filed the lawsuit in Monroe County, according to court documents.
The plaintiff began seeing Wortman in 2012 for ongoing gynecological issues, the lawsuit alleges. She was married by then with children of her own, the lawsuit states.
“It was inconceivable to plaintiff that (…) Wortman would use his own semen to impregnate a patient, her mother in 1985, and furthermore, knowingly treat her own biological daughter as a gynecology patient for nearly a decade,” it states. the demand.
The woman claims she discovered she had at least 13 half-siblings after undergoing DNA testing, according to court documents.
According to the lawsuit, at least six of the half-siblings were donor-conceived and were born in the same four-year period, between 1981 and 1985.
“With each new discovery of a half-sibling, Plaintiff experienced increased anxiety, migraines, shock and confusion, feelings of hopelessness, stress, and other physical manifestations of continuing to learn that her donor father had been a serial sperm donor,” he said. .
CNN has contacted Wortman’s attorneys for comment. Wortman was certified by the American Board of Obstetrics and Gynecology in 1982, according to his medical office’s website.
The lawsuit is still pending, according to court records.
Nicki Brown contributed to this report.
