Vegas IVF doctor is accused of using his OWN sperm to impregnate clients – and lying about a fire at his clinic to cover it up
Twin siblings discovered that an IVF doctor had impregnated their mother with his own sperm and that they were their biological father.
Allison Vece and Kevin Phelps were born in 1985 after their mother Gayle Fedele received fertility treatment from Dr. Joseph Plautz in Las Vegas.
Decades later, when Allison began experiencing crippling migraines, both she and Fedele Plautz asked about the donor’s medical history.
He told them that the data had been destroyed in a fire at the sperm bank, the Rocky Mountain Cryobank in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
They believed him, but later, after Plautz died in 2015, they both took online DNA tests and were shocked to discover that the doctor’s children were their half-siblings.
Allison Vece and Kevin Phelps were born in 1985 after their mother Gayle Fedele had fertility treatment
Dr. Joseph Plautz, who died in 2015, is accused of impregnating patients with his own sperm
The siblings discovered they had 13 half-siblings and more than 40 cousins, all of whom shared the doctor’s DNA.
Plautz is one of dozens of fertility doctors who have been accused in recent years of inseminating clients with their own sperm, sometimes fathering more than 50 children.
Many, like Vece and Phelps, discovered the truth through DNA websites like 23&Me, which match samples to an online database to find long-lost relatives.
Fedele and her children have filed suit against Plautz’s estate, his former practice Deseret Women’s Health Care and Dignity Health in Henderson, Nevada, which was then called St Rose de Lima Hospital.
Vece felt she was being abused for a second time when she became Plautz’s patient from the age of seventeen and received cervical and breast exams from him.
“The fact that he did a cervical exam on me and a breast exam… I feel completely violated,” she told KTVV.
Her mother added, “When we both found out with the DNA that her own father had investigated her and lied to us, it was just… It consumes us.”
Fedele with her husband Lee shortly after the twins were born
Fedele and Vece now live in Connecticut, but Phelps, who is single, said he was afraid to date anyone because he still lives in Las Vegas — and may have already slept with a relative.
“I don’t know that I haven’t done that. I’m scared of dating now. “I can’t date because I was born and raised here and I’m afraid I’m going on a date with my half-sister,” he said.
Fedele was inseminated on Father’s Day, June 17, 1984, at Plautz’s clinic at St Rose de Lima Hospital, after a 15-minute wait.
She was 31 and knew her biological clock was ticking after she failed to conceive with her husband Lee.
Fedele asked for a sperm donor who was white, under 45 years old, tall, with blond hair and blue eyes, so that he would look like him.
‘Dr. Plautz told Ms. Fedele that the donor was likely a student at a nearby medical school, but he joked that the donor could also be a “ski bum” from Wyoming,” the lawsuit read.
‘At no time did Dr. Plautz did not discuss or inform Ms. Fedele that she might be inseminated with his own semen, nor did Ms. Fedele consent or in any way authorize Dr. Plautz to artificially inseminate her with his own sperm.’
Fedele “trusted him completely with her body, heart and mind” and returned days later for a second insemination.
Vece (right), Phelps (second from right) and Fedele (third from right) with their younger brother and Vece’s four children
Phelps (left) and Vece (right) as newborn babies
Phelps and Vece were born nine months later and for decades nothing seemed wrong until they asked for the medical records.
“Due to ongoing health problems and complications, including but not limited to severe migraine headaches suffered by Ms. Vece, Ms. Fedele requested information regarding the sperm donor who was Ms. Vece’s biological father,” the lawsuit said.
‘Dr. Plautz informed Ms. Fedele that there was a fire at the sperm bank and that all relevant medical records had been destroyed by the fire.
“Ms. Fedele trusted Dr. Plautz and his statements that the sperm bank had had a fire and relevant records had been destroyed because she had no reason to suspect it was untrue, and she completely trusted Dr. Plutz and had great confidence in him. .’
Two years later, Vece asked Plautz himself, and got the same answer about the fire.
Fedele with the twins as children, along with their younger brother Nick
Fedele did not look into her doctor’s story until 2022 and could not find any evidence of a fire at the sperm bank, which closed in 2009.
Curious about his origins, Phelps took a DNA test in March 2021 and found several half-siblings, but assumed they were “related to the random sperm donor” and did not share the results with his family.
Vece became suspicious a year later when she watched the Netflix documentary Our Father about another fertility doctor who got his patients pregnant.
That’s when Phelps shared his results and they realized the terrible truth about their origins.
“On or about May 15, 2022, Ms. Vece called her mother in tears and informed Ms. Fedele that her biological father was likely Dr. Plautz,” the lawsuit read.
“Ms Fedele was devastated and outraged. Between June 2022 and July 2022, Ms. Vece underwent two different genetic tests from 23 &Me DNA and Ancestry DNA.
“The results of the DNA testing confirmed that Ms. Vece had numerous half-siblings who are Dr. Plautz’s biological children.”
According to his obituary, Plautz had 10 children, 31 grandchildren and 10 great-grandchildren.
“We did one of those Ancestry DNA tests. And out comes a bunch of half-siblings! And one of the last names was Plautz, and my sister recognized the name immediately,” Phelps recalled.
“And it was shocking!” Allison added. “I actually screamed. I fell on the ground. My kids were like, what? What mother, what?! I thought… He’s our father!’
Vece said his descendants refuse to admit what he did to his patients.
“We’ve been told we’re liars, even though we have DNA evidence to match it. They don’t want to believe that their father is capable of doing that,” she said.
The lawsuit alleged that Plautz had not undergone any genetic screening “or actions to ensure that there was no risk of genetic risk for conditions or diseases that would endanger the health and safety of Ms. Fedele’s children.”
“His DNA is problematic because it contains hereditary and genetic conditions that pose serious health risks to Ms. Vece and Mr. Phelps and their children,” the report alleged.
The lawsuit, filed in an amended form on April 2, seeks $60,000 in damages.
Nevada previously passed a law banning doctors from using their sperm to impregnate patients, and Vece and Fedele want the same in Connecticut.
‘What this doctor did to us was completely incomprehensible and unethical. He took a medical oath to protect his patients, but instead lied and used his power to do what he wanted,” Vece said in a speech to state lawmakers.
“He has ruined our faith in the medical system. We have now discovered that we have thirteen half-brothers and sisters and more than forty cousins.’
However, the bill was withdrawn for re-examination last month, although it could be reconsidered this year.