Gynecologist accused of being a “serial sperm donor” dies in plane crash

(CNN) — A New York gynecologist accused by a woman of secretly using his own sperm to impregnate several patients died in a plane crash on Sunday.

Morris Wortman, 72, of Rochester, New York, died when the test plane he was traveling in crashed into a pasture in western New York, according to a news release from the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office. The pilot of the plane, Earl J. Luce Jr., 70, died, the sheriff’s office said.

The sheriff’s office said preliminary investigations indicate the wings detached from the plane and landed in an orchard, with the remains of the plane moving for a short time before crashing. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the crash, according to the press release.

Wortman was the director Center for Menstrual DisordersFounded in 1986, Rochester Medical Practice is dedicated to women’s reproductive health care and services, According to their website.

He was also described on the page as a “world-class pilot”.

Accused of being a “serial sperm donor”.

In 2021, Wortman, along with his medical practice, was sued for using his own sperm to impregnate a woman who was trying to conceive through a sperm donor.

According to court documents, the woman’s daughter sued in Monroe County.

Plaintiff began seeing Wortman in 2012. By then she had married and had children of her own, the suit says.

“(…) It is inconceivable to plaintiff that Wortman would use his own sperm to impregnate a patient, her mother, in 1985, and knowingly treated his own biological daughter as an obstetrics patient for nearly a decade,” it says. required

According to court documents, the woman says she discovered she has at least 13 half-siblings after undergoing DNA testing.

According to the lawsuit, at least six of the half-siblings were donor-conceived and born in the same four years between 1981 and 1985.

“With each new discovery of a new sibling, the plaintiff experienced increased anxiety, migraines, shock and confusion, feelings of hopelessness, depression and other physical manifestations, and continued to learn that his donor father was a serial sperm donor,” he said. said. .

CNN has reached out to Wortman’s attorneys for comment. Wortman was board-certified by the American Board of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in 1982, according to her medical office’s website.

The case is still pending, according to court records.

Nicky Brown contributed to this report.