When the results from her daughter’s genetic genealogy test came in last year, Bianca Voss was not expecting to recognize the name of her biological father. After all, she had been conceived from an anonymous sperm donor at a clinic nearly 40 years earlier.
But when she looked at the results, she said, the name was all too familiar: Martin D. Greenberg.
Greenberg was the same fertility doctor who had inseminated her in 1983 — the same physician who told her he would take care of securing the anonymous donor.
Now, Voss, 75, is accusing Greenberg of “medical rape” for allegedly intentionally impregnating her without her permission with his own sperm, according to a federal lawsuit filed on Tuesday.
“Doctor Greenberg violated Bianca,” her attorney, Adam Wolf, told The Washington Post. “He thought that he could insert his own sperm into his patient’s body by tricking her and without her consent. This is not only gross and unethical, but it’s a severe violation of Bianca’s bodily autonomy.”
He added: “She feels violated by this man. She trusted him as her doctor and now, she’s left wondering who else can she trust?”
Greenberg did not immediately respond to a message from The Post early on Wednesday.
Voss is not the first to allege that a fertility doctor used his own sperm to conceive a child. In recent years, the growth of genetic genealogy services has led a number of parents and children to discover that doctors had deceived them. One doctor in Indiana is accused of fathering as many as 50 children with his sperm, while another Las Vegas obstetrician is tied to at least 26 similar cases. The discoveries have led some to push for stronger regulations and tougher penalties when things go wrong.
Nineteen children and counting
Voss, who now lives in New Jersey, first visited Greenberg’s Manhattan offices in 1983 seeking his fertility services because her partner, who has since died, was unable to have a child due to a vasectomy. She says the OB/GYN assured her that he would take care of finding an anonymous donor through a sperm bank once she paid $100.
Voss’s procedure was successful, and she gave birth to her daughter, Roberta Voss, the following year.
Fertility fraud: People conceived through errors, misdeeds in the industry are pressing for justice
As Bianca Voss raised her daughter, she believed for years that she had never met her biological father.
Then in September 2020, Roberta Voss, who was looking to learn more about her family’s history, took a home DNA test kit through 23andMe. When the results came back, they showed that Greenberg was her father.
“It was devastating when Roberta came to me with the news,” Bianca Voss said during a virtual news conference held on Tuesday, where she called Greenberg a “medical rapist.”
“I am angry that I was violated in this manner. … This whole thing has upended my life and my family’s. The damage that it’s doing and the emotional scars that it’s creating for me and them I fear will have lasting effects.”
The family later learned that Greenberg had lost his ability to do surgeries in New York in April 2010, following an investigation that cited “dishonorable, unethical, [and] unprofessional conduct.” Public records do not indicate what this conduct entailed.
After doing some more research on social media, Roberta Voss reached out to Greenberg, who now lives in Florida and does not practice medicine. She hoped to learn more about his medical history because his son had died young.
Greenberg never replied to her messages, though, the lawsuit states.
“The worst part is when I saw the doctor’s face, I recognized myself,” said Voss, now 37. “It’s horrifying to look in the mirror and see the person who violated my mother. I see his face every time I look in the mirror.”
On Tuesday, Bianca Voss filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking monetary damages and a copy of Greenberg’s medical history.
Voss said she hopes the lawsuit might prompt other women who were inseminated by Greenberg to do their own DNA testing.
“She wants to know if there are other victims of Dr. Greenberg and to shine a light of this horrifying pattern that we have uncovered of doctors deceitfully using their own sperm in their female patients,” Wolf told The Post.
Court records did not immediately list an attorney representing Greenberg as of early Wednesday.
But when she looked at the results, she said, the name was all too familiar: Martin D. Greenberg.
Greenberg was the same fertility doctor who had inseminated her in 1983 — the same physician who told her he would take care of securing the anonymous donor.
Now, Voss, 75, is accusing Greenberg of “medical rape” for allegedly intentionally impregnating her without her permission with his own sperm, according to a federal lawsuit filed on Tuesday.
“Doctor Greenberg violated Bianca,” her attorney, Adam Wolf, told The Washington Post. “He thought that he could insert his own sperm into his patient’s body by tricking her and without her consent. This is not only gross and unethical, but it’s a severe violation of Bianca’s bodily autonomy.”
He added: “She feels violated by this man. She trusted him as her doctor and now, she’s left wondering who else can she trust?”
Greenberg did not immediately respond to a message from The Post early on Wednesday.
Voss is not the first to allege that a fertility doctor used his own sperm to conceive a child. In recent years, the growth of genetic genealogy services has led a number of parents and children to discover that doctors had deceived them. One doctor in Indiana is accused of fathering as many as 50 children with his sperm, while another Las Vegas obstetrician is tied to at least 26 similar cases. The discoveries have led some to push for stronger regulations and tougher penalties when things go wrong.
Nineteen children and counting
Voss, who now lives in New Jersey, first visited Greenberg’s Manhattan offices in 1983 seeking his fertility services because her partner, who has since died, was unable to have a child due to a vasectomy. She says the OB/GYN assured her that he would take care of finding an anonymous donor through a sperm bank once she paid $100.
Voss’s procedure was successful, and she gave birth to her daughter, Roberta Voss, the following year.
Fertility fraud: People conceived through errors, misdeeds in the industry are pressing for justice
As Bianca Voss raised her daughter, she believed for years that she had never met her biological father.
Then in September 2020, Roberta Voss, who was looking to learn more about her family’s history, took a home DNA test kit through 23andMe. When the results came back, they showed that Greenberg was her father.
“It was devastating when Roberta came to me with the news,” Bianca Voss said during a virtual news conference held on Tuesday, where she called Greenberg a “medical rapist.”
“I am angry that I was violated in this manner. … This whole thing has upended my life and my family’s. The damage that it’s doing and the emotional scars that it’s creating for me and them I fear will have lasting effects.”
The family later learned that Greenberg had lost his ability to do surgeries in New York in April 2010, following an investigation that cited “dishonorable, unethical, [and] unprofessional conduct.” Public records do not indicate what this conduct entailed.
After doing some more research on social media, Roberta Voss reached out to Greenberg, who now lives in Florida and does not practice medicine. She hoped to learn more about his medical history because his son had died young.
Greenberg never replied to her messages, though, the lawsuit states.
“The worst part is when I saw the doctor’s face, I recognized myself,” said Voss, now 37. “It’s horrifying to look in the mirror and see the person who violated my mother. I see his face every time I look in the mirror.”
On Tuesday, Bianca Voss filed a federal lawsuit in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York seeking monetary damages and a copy of Greenberg’s medical history.
Voss said she hopes the lawsuit might prompt other women who were inseminated by Greenberg to do their own DNA testing.
“She wants to know if there are other victims of Dr. Greenberg and to shine a light of this horrifying pattern that we have uncovered of doctors deceitfully using their own sperm in their female patients,” Wolf told The Post.
Court records did not immediately list an attorney representing Greenberg as of early Wednesday.
