By Daily Mail (U.S.) | Created at 2026-08-02 13:46:59 | Updated at 2026-08-02 17:05:40
3 hours ago
Two sisters' lives have been blown apart after they discovered their real father may be their mother's fertility doctor.
Tasheena Greaves, 41, of North Dakota, and her sister Janae Nelson Raymond, 40, of Utah, have long thought they were their 87-year-old father Warren Nelson's children until recently, when they took a DNA test that said otherwise.
The two sisters were horrified to discover they may be the children of their 81-year-old mother Jean Ann Nelson's fertility doctor, Dr Dennis Lutz, a shocking lawsuit filed in North Dakota revealed.
Jean Ann had sought fertility treatment with Lutz in the mid 1980s, and she fell pregnant three times through an artificial insemination process involving an anonymous sperm donor's sample mixed with her husband's sample. Her first pregnancy ended in a miscarriage, but she managed to carry two full-term pregnancies following the tragedy.
Tasheena was born on Valentine's Day in 1985, while Janae was born a year later in May.
Lutz allegedly told Jean Ann that mixing donor sperm with Warren's would give her a higher chance of conceiving a child. However, Lutz 'secretly substituted his own genetic material during insemination procedures,' the lawsuit, viewed by the Daily Mail, claimed.
He also incorrectly informed the wannabe mother that 'any child conceived would most likely be her husband's biological child,' which is not scientifically guaranteed, the suit states.
However, that promise is what encouraged the then-young woman to agree to using artificial insemination as a means to become a mother, the lawsuit said.
Tasheena Greaves, 41, of North Dakota, and her sister Janae Nelson Raymond, 40, of Utah, recently found out that they were not their father's daughter through a DNA test
Their mother, Jean Ann Nelson, 81, was artificially inseminated with donor and her husband's sperm in the 1980s. Both daughters were born from her fertility doctor's sperm, unbeknownst to her, she alleged in a lawsuit
At no point did Jean Ann consent to using Lutz's alleged sperm while trying to get pregnant, she said in the complaint.
'Dr Lutz’s conduct was not a mistake or a misunderstanding. It required deliberate deception, concealment, and abuse of medical authority,' the complaint added.
'Dr Lutz's conduct was intentional, knowing, and undertaken with conscious disregard for Plaintiff's rights, and was not the result of mistake, accident, or medical judgment,' the complaint continued.
'This case arises from one of the most serious breaches of trust that can occur in the physician-patient relationship.'
Decades later, a DNA test would reveal the truth, which caused the two sisters to go through an identity crisis, the court documents said.
'The Nelson family is coming forward because they are appalled by the alleged conduct,' their attorney, Kellen Bubach, told the Daily Mail in a statement.
'For decades, the Nelson family did not know the truth... This case is about patient consent, reproductive autonomy, medical trust, and the right of children to know the truth about their genetic identity and medical history.
'Because this matter is now pending in court, we will let the complaint speak for itself and will proceed through the legal process.'
Dr Dennis Lutz has admitted to using his sperm, but said it didn't break fertility rules at the time and that Jean Ann had said she would not seek the donor's identity, according to reports
The doctor responded to the civil lawsuit, stating that Jean Ann had consented to an anonymous donor and said she would not seek the donor's identity, Valley News Live reported.
Lutz, who is the Gynecology Chair at the University of North Dakota, also acknowledged that Jean Ann had not consented to using his sperm, but his procedures 'aligned with the relevant standard of care and state of fertility medicine at the time the care was rendered,' the outlet reported.
He went on to say that he 'did not act with the intent to deceive' Jean Ann.
The University of North Dakota has since removed him from his position as chair and has notified the doctor that they plan on terminating his employment, Valley News Live reported.
The family is now demanding a trial by jury and damages of at least $50,000. Lutz has asked the court to dismiss the claim with prejudice.
The Daily Mail has reached out to Lutz's attorney for comment.
