The woman had a doubt this man was her father when he asked her to take off her mask during one examination, and then invited his wife to look at the woman's features.
Trigger Warning: This story discusses topics that may be uncomfortable to readers.
For women, it is very important they land a good OB-GYN because they need someone who will understand their issues and give reasonable solutions. For Morgan Hellquist, Dr. Morris Wortman was the one. She went to him for nine years and trusted him to do multiple breast and vaginal exams.
But during one such appointment in April 2021, Hellquist couldn't shake off a thought—she felt that Wortman was her biological father. In a lawsuit filed recently, Hellquist revealed that she had never known or met her biological father, given how she was born via artificial insemination in September 1985.
It's not like Wortman was a stranger to her and her family reports The Washington Post, as Wortman was the one who facilitated the artificial impregnation of her mother. They believed that he'd used the sperm of a medical student.
After nine years of regular vaginal and breast examinations with her gynecologist, Morgan Hellquist slowly came to a distressing realization. The doctor whom she had trusted with countless examinations was, she suspected, her biological father. https://t.co/GSLAensqfu
— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) September 16, 2021
Per UK Today News, Wortman was considered the “family hero” after the successful procedure, which they called a “miracle” because this happened after several failed attempts. However, during the appointment in April, as Wortman was conducting a vaginal examination on Hellquist, he asked her to take her mask off, saying that she'd look better without one. Then, per the lawsuit, Wortman invited his wife into the examination room to meet Hellquist, thus providing an opportunity for her to look at the woman’s features and observe a physical resemblance to Wortman.
After that, the doctor from Rochester, N.Y., allegedly told Hellquitst, “You’re really a good kid, such a good kid.”
Insane…
— k (@kathysmith2k7) September 15, 2021
Dr. Morris Wortman Accused of Secretly Impregnating Patient https://t.co/k7GMS1qL5W
That's when it dawned on the woman that the man she's known since she was a child, and had been going to for medical care for nearly a decade, might actually be her biological father. A month later, her DNA tests confirmed her doubts. Hellquist “was in shock and disbelief that he would continue [to] treat her as her gynecologist if she were his biological daughter,” the lawsuit states.
She later discovered, according to the lawsuit, that Wortman may have fathered six other children—all via artificial insemination. The complaint alleges that, in 1985, Wortman impregnated Hellquist’s mother, Jo Ann Levey, without her consent. He is alleged to have used his own sperm while lying to her, by saying it was from a medical student; Wortman—despite knowing Hellquist was his own daughter he helped create—began to treat her from when she was 26 years old.
The lawsuit also claims the doctor, an associate professor at the University of Rochester, has been “diagnosed with and treated for mental illness, including bipolar disorder.”
Hellquist, shocked and appalled by the discovery, decided to sue Wortman, alleging medical malpractice, lack of informed consent, battery, fraud, negligence, and infliction of emotional distress.
References:
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/09/15/gynecologist-wortman-daughter-lawsuit/
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jqaxra6gvNE
Cover Image Source: YouTube | Dr. Morris Wortman
