‘Our lives will never be the same’: Devastated family says hospital used stranger’s sperm in fertility treatment

A couple who became pregnant through intrauterine insemination is now suing their hospital, saying their doctor used the wrong man’s sperm.

Jeanine and Mike Harvey of Akron, Ohio, underwent the fertility treatment in 1991, under the care of Dr Nicholas Spirtos at Summa Akron City hospital (now Summa Health System). Thirty years later, they say, they learned from a DNA test that their daughter, Jessica Harvey Galloway, has none of Mike’s genes.

“Our goal couldn’t have been clearer: We wanted a child who was genetically related to both of us,” Ms Harvey said tearfully at a press conference. “Without our knowledge, Dr Spirtos used a stranger’s sperm instead of my husband’s.”

The family is now suing both Dr Spirtos and Summa Health, accusing them of medical malpractice and other charges. In the lawsuit, the family says they only learned of Jessica’s real heritage after she took a DNA test before a trip to Italy, where she had hoped to track down distant relatives.

“Plaintiffs learned only recently that Jessica has no genetic relation to Mr Harvey based on the shocking results of an Ancestry.com DNA kit purchased as a Christmas present,” the complaint says. “Subsequent investigation revealed that her biological father is a man who, along with his wife, was undergoing fertility treatments with Dr Spritos at Summa Akron City Hospital at the same time as the Harveys.”

Mr Harvey, faced with the possibility that Jessica is not his biological daughter, said he felt a mix of “shock,” “disbelief,” “sadness” and “betrayal.”

“Learning that your entire reality isn’t what you believed it to be is hard to explain,” he said at the press conference. “It’s sort of like waking up in someone else’s life.”

The Harveys’ daughter also spoke, tearfully describing the trauma of learning that, in some ways, she’s not who she thought she was.

“Since then, our lives have never been the same, and never will be,” Ms Galloway said.

Summa Health says it is aware of the accusation, but does not yet have enough information to confirm or deny it.

“We take this allegation seriously and understand the impact this has on the family,” Mike Bernstein, Summa’s communications director, told The Independent. “At this point, we have not met with the family or conducted testing of our own. Given the very limited information that we have and the amount of time that has passed, it remains our hope that the attorneys representing the family will work with us to make that next step a priority.”

The Independent has also reached out to Dr Spirtos for comment.