We’ve seen so many reunions of a long-lost parent, child, or siblings, and most of them will surely make you cry.
However, last year, a reunion between siblings turned out to be the key to a sickening secret that will change their lives forever.
Morgan Helquist and David Berry both lived and grew up in Rochester, New York. They may have crossed paths once, not knowing they were brother and sister.
Berry, now 37 years old and lives in Miami, took a DNA test. He was curious and wanted to know his biological father’s identity.
Through this test, Berry learned he has a sister, Helquist, and they were in shock yet excited.
“We were just talking, I grabbed his face, I just looked, and I was like, ‘Why is your face on my face?’” Helquist, 36, shared with ABC News.
She was, of course, happy to know that she has a brother, and their resemblance was uncanny!
“I just couldn’t understand. It was the craziest experience I’ve ever had.”
Helquist thought it was unusual that she and Berry continued to find many more half-siblings.
It was getting weirder and weirder.
“There was five of us and we were all the same age — and 6 and then 7 — and it started to feel like, well, if there’s seven, there might be 20 and if there’s 20, there might be a hundred,” Helquist said. “And I started to feel terrified.”
Who wouldn’t? Finding out you have two half-siblings is okay, but 7, or probably more?
They dug deeper. They started with the fact that both their mothers went through artificial insemination under the same doctor, Dr. Morris Wortman.
Both Helquist and Berry had their doubts, so they contacted Wortman’s biological daughter and explained their situation. She agreed to take a DNA test and their suspicion was confirmed.
Wortman’s daughter was also their half-sibling.
It was shocking and disgusting to know what happened. Dr. Wortman was a serial sperm donor without the knowledge of his patients.
Both mothers of Helquist and Berry underwent artificial insemination, thinking it was from an anonymous donor, who Dr. Wortman said, was a medical student.
They didn’t know it was the doctor’s sperm he was using.
“He had my permission to use a donor, specifically a medical student,” Karen Berry explained to ABC News. “He did not have my permission to use his own sperm for a donation.”
Berry was shattered and he realized, “I’m the product of something that should have never happened with an unconscionable violation of ethics at a minimum.”
For Helquist, it was a revelation that made her sob.
“When we found out there wasn’t any need to tell her. I was screaming and sobbing at the top of my lungs.”
Aside from this, she felt violated because, for the past ten years, Dr. Wortman was Helquist’s gynecologist. He knew she was his daughter.
How sick and twisted is that?
“He knew the whole time who he was, and I didn’t. He took away that choice for me.”
Helquist sued Wortman, her biological father, in September. Her complaints included medical malpractice and fertility fraud. Wortman, through his legal team, denied all claims.
Did you know that only seven states here in the United States can penalize doctors for committing fertility fraud?
Other states don’t have such laws or are still pending.
Unfortunately, according to Helquist, her fertility fraud case did not push through since she lives in New York.
“I have a case because he touched my body without my consent,” Harlequist explained.
May this case make a difference and influence changes in our laws.
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