The twin brothers discovered that an IVF doctor impregnated their mother with his own sperm and was their biological father.
Allison Vece and Kevin Phelps were born in 1985 after Dr. Joseph Plautz gave their mother Gayle Fedele fertility treatment in Las Vegas.
Decades later, when Allison began suffering from disabling migraines, both she and Fedele asked Plautz about the donor’s medical history.
He told them the records were destroyed in a fire at the sperm bank, Rocky Mountain Cryobank in Jackson Hole, Wyoming.
They believed him, but later, after Plautz’s death in 2015, they both took DNA tests online 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, received fertility treatment.
Dr. Joseph Plautz, who died in 2015, is accused of impregnating patients with his own sperm
The brothers discovered that he had 13 half-siblings and more than 40 nieces and nephews, all sharing the doctor’s DNA.
Plautz is one of dozens of fertility doctors accused in recent years of inseminating their 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 compare samples to an online database to find long-lost relatives.
Fedele and her children are suing Plautz’s estate, her former practice Deseret Women’s Health Care and Dignity Health in Henderson, Nevada, which at the time was called St Rose de Lima Hospital.
Vece felt she had been raped a second time when she became Plautz’s patient since she was 17 and received cervical and breast exams from him.
“The fact that I had a cervical exam and a breast exam… I feel completely violated,” she told KTNV.
Her mother added: “When we both found out with the DNA that her own father examined her and lied to us, it was just… It consumes us.”
Fedele with her husband Lee shortly after the birth of the twins
Fedele and Vece now live in Connecticut, but Phelps, who is single, said he was afraid to date because he still lives in Las Vegas and may have already slept with a relative.
‘I don’t know if I haven’t done it. I’m afraid to date now. “I can’t date because I was born and raised here and I’m afraid to date my half-sister,” she said.
Fedele was inseminated on Father’s Day, June 17, 1984, at the Plautz clinic at the Santa Rosa Hospital in Lima, after a 15-minute wait.
She was 31 years old and knew her biological clock was ticking after she failed to conceive with her husband Lee.
Fedele requested a sperm donor who was Caucasian, under 45 years old, tall, with blonde hair and blue eyes, so that he would look like him.
“Dr. Plautz informed Ms. Fedele that the donor would likely be a student at a nearby medical school, but joked that the donor could also be a ‘ski bum’ from Wyoming,” the lawsuit reads.
“At no time did Dr. Plautz speak to or inform Ms. Fedele that she could be inseminated with her own semen, nor did Ms. Fedele authorize or give permission in any way to Dr. Plautz to artificially inseminate her with her own semen.”
Fedele “completely trusted him with his body, heart and mind” and returned for a second insemination days later.
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 medical records.
“Due to ongoing health issues and complications, including, but not limited to, severe migraines that Ms. Vece was suffering from, Ms. Fedele requested information regarding the sperm donor who was Ms. Vece’s biological father,” the lawsuit reads.
‘Dr Plautz informed Ms Fedele that there was a fire at the sperm bank and that all relevant medical records were destroyed in the fire.
“Ms. Fedele trusted Dr. Plautz and his claims that the sperm bank had burned down and the relevant records had been destroyed, as she had no reason to suspect that this was not true, and she fully trusted Dr. .Plutz and had great confidence in him.’
Two years later, Vece herself asked Plautz and received the same answer about the fire.
Fedele with the twins as children, along with his younger brother Nick
Fedele did not investigate his doctor’s history until 2022 and could not find any record of a fire at the sperm bank, which closed in 2009.
Curious about his heritage, 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.
A year later, Vece became suspicious when he saw the Netflix documentary Nuestro Padre about another fertility doctor who got his patients pregnant.
It was then that Phelps shared his results and they realized the terrible truth about their ancestry.
“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 reads.
“Mrs Fedele was devastated and outraged. Between June 2022 and July 2022, Ms. Vece performed two different genetic tests from 23 &Me DNA and Ancestry DNA.
“DNA test results confirmed that Ms. Vece had numerous half-siblings who are biological children of Dr. Plautz.”
