A gynecologist accused of secretly being a ‘serial sperm donor’ died in an aircraft crash. A lawsuit against him is still pending

By Celina Tebor and Christina Maxouris, CNN

(CNN) — A New York gynecologist who was accused by a woman of secretly using his own sperm to impregnate multiple patients died in an aircraft crash Sunday.

Morris Wortman, 72, of Rochester, New York, died when the experimental aircraft he was a passenger in crashed into a pasture in western New York, according to a news release from the Orleans County Sheriff’s Office. The aircraft’s pilot, 70-year-old Earl J. Luce Jr., was also killed, the sheriff’s office said.

Preliminary investigations indicate the wings fell off the aircraft’s body and landed in an orchard and what was left of the aircraft traveled briefly before crashing, the sheriff’s office said. The National Transportation Safety Board is also investigating the wreck, according to the news release.

Wortman was the director of The Center for Menstrual Disorders, a Rochester medical office founded in 1986 and dedicated to women’s healthcare and reproductive services, according to its website.

Wortman is also described on the website as a “world-class aviator.”

Woman has accused doctor of being ‘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 seeking to become 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 problems, the lawsuit alleges. She was by then married 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 his own biological daughter as a gynecology patient for almost a decade,” the lawsuit states.

She claims she discovered she had at least 13 half-siblings after DNA testing, court documents say.

At least six of the half-siblings were all donor-conceived and born in the same four-year time frame between 1981 and 1985, according to the lawsuit.

“With each new half-sibling discovery, Plaintiff experienced increased anxiety, migraine headaches, shock and confusion, feelings of despair, stress and other physical manifestations of continuing to learn that her donor father had been a serial sperm donor,” it said.

CNN has reached out to Wortman’s attorneys for comment. Wortman was board 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.

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CNN’s Nicki Brown contributed to this report.