PORTLAND, OR - A lawsuit alleges that hospital workers "wrongfully inseminated" a woman during her fertility procedure with "foreign sperm" from a stranger instead of her husband's, resulting in the birth of a baby girl who suffers from "medical issues that were inherited" from the biological father.
The wife and husband, identified in the lawsuit as C.W. and K.W., respectively, said that they were "stripped of the unifying bond of creating shared life" while also being "permanently reminded" that their firstborn child was a mistake, Law & Crime reported.
The couple is suing Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) and Providence Health, seeking $17 million in damages. "C.W. had to bear the humiliation, discomfort, and physical distress of carrying the pregnancy to term and laboring and delivering a child conceived due to the wrongful use of another male's semen specimen," the complaint states.
"K.W. was stripped entirely of his biological fatherhood of the firstborn child with his wife." The couple underwent an insemination procedure at OHSU in 1981 after being referred to its family planning unit in Portland. A man identified as R.W. also sought fertility treatments at OHSU with his spouse a year earlier, with doctors obtaining his sperm and then "wrongfully" using it for C.W. and K.W.'s procedure, as noted in the lawsuit.
The couple had no idea what had happened. They didn't find out about the alleged mistake "until less than two years" before filing their lawsuit on December 26, 2025, in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
"To K.W.'s and C.W.'s excitement, C.W. became pregnant, and she gave birth to a baby girl, A.P.," the lawsuit states. "[The couple] raised [A.P.] as their biological child never thinking that OHSU and/or Providence had wrongfully inseminated [C.W.] with foreign semen during her procedure."
Genetic testing later revealed that K.W. is not A.P.'s biological father. The alleged father, R.W., also had a child with his spouse. OHSU is accused of attempting to "conceal or otherwise deny that they wrongfully inseminated C.W.," the lawsuit states. "Further, OHSU has failed to properly investigate and notify its patients of medical errors after being placed on notice of plaintiffs' claims."
The couple said that OHSU's staff took possession of K.W.'s semen sample and failed to ensure "proper chain of custody in multiple regards." They propose that K.W.'s sample could have been used to inseminate a wrong recipient, as well.
"OHSU's and/or Providence's procedures (if any) were woefully insufficient to ensure semen specimens were accurately received by the intended recipient," the complaint alleges, noting how OHSU maintained "professional affiliations, agencies, and relationships" with other medical facilities, entities, and providers for the facilitation of medical care and fertility procedures for patients.
"As a result of the above-described conduct, plaintiffs have suffered and continue to suffer mental and emotional anguish, physical pain, emotional distress, and physical manifestations of emotional distress, including embarrassment, loss of self-esteem, disgrace, humiliation, and loss of enjoyment of life, that have prevented and will continue to prevent plaintiffs from performing daily activities and obtaining the full enjoyment of life," the lawyers for the couple said.
"It remains unknown whether defendants performed any screening on the foreign donor prior to improperly using the donor's material thereby exposing C.W. and A.P. to communicable diseases."
The wife and husband, identified in the lawsuit as C.W. and K.W., respectively, said that they were "stripped of the unifying bond of creating shared life" while also being "permanently reminded" that their firstborn child was a mistake, Law & Crime reported.
The couple is suing Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) and Providence Health, seeking $17 million in damages. "C.W. had to bear the humiliation, discomfort, and physical distress of carrying the pregnancy to term and laboring and delivering a child conceived due to the wrongful use of another male's semen specimen," the complaint states.
"K.W. was stripped entirely of his biological fatherhood of the firstborn child with his wife." The couple underwent an insemination procedure at OHSU in 1981 after being referred to its family planning unit in Portland. A man identified as R.W. also sought fertility treatments at OHSU with his spouse a year earlier, with doctors obtaining his sperm and then "wrongfully" using it for C.W. and K.W.'s procedure, as noted in the lawsuit.
The couple had no idea what had happened. They didn't find out about the alleged mistake "until less than two years" before filing their lawsuit on December 26, 2025, in Multnomah County Circuit Court.
"To K.W.'s and C.W.'s excitement, C.W. became pregnant, and she gave birth to a baby girl, A.P.," the lawsuit states. "[The couple] raised [A.P.] as their biological child never thinking that OHSU and/or Providence had wrongfully inseminated [C.W.] with foreign semen during her procedure."
Genetic testing later revealed that K.W. is not A.P.'s biological father. The alleged father, R.W., also had a child with his spouse. OHSU is accused of attempting to "conceal or otherwise deny that they wrongfully inseminated C.W.," the lawsuit states. "Further, OHSU has failed to properly investigate and notify its patients of medical errors after being placed on notice of plaintiffs' claims."
The couple said that OHSU's staff took possession of K.W.'s semen sample and failed to ensure "proper chain of custody in multiple regards." They propose that K.W.'s sample could have been used to inseminate a wrong recipient, as well.
"OHSU's and/or Providence's procedures (if any) were woefully insufficient to ensure semen specimens were accurately received by the intended recipient," the complaint alleges, noting how OHSU maintained "professional affiliations, agencies, and relationships" with other medical facilities, entities, and providers for the facilitation of medical care and fertility procedures for patients.
"As a result of the above-described conduct, plaintiffs have suffered and continue to suffer mental and emotional anguish, physical pain, emotional distress, and physical manifestations of emotional distress, including embarrassment, loss of self-esteem, disgrace, humiliation, and loss of enjoyment of life, that have prevented and will continue to prevent plaintiffs from performing daily activities and obtaining the full enjoyment of life," the lawyers for the couple said.
"It remains unknown whether defendants performed any screening on the foreign donor prior to improperly using the donor's material thereby exposing C.W. and A.P. to communicable diseases."
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