Fertility Doc Accused of Making His Own Donation
Suspicions raised after interracial couple ended up with surprisingly fair-skinned twins
By LEANNE GENDREAU and DIANA PEREZ
Updated 9:08 AM EDT, Fri, Nov 13, 2009
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Dr. Ben Ramaley, a Fairfield County OB/GYN, may have done the unthinkable -- impregnating a female infertility patient with his own sperm.
According to documents released by the state Department of Public Health, the woman went to Dr. Ramaley when he was at Brookside Greenwich OB/GYN in Old Greenwich, once in November 2002 and once in December 2002. She agreed to be inseminated with her husband’s sperm and brought a sample.
The woman, who was only identified as “Jane Smith” in the investigation report, became pregnant from the procedure and delivered twin girls.
Shortly after the girls were born, the couple had the babies genetically tested.
“After their birth, John Smith and Jane Smith were surprised by the very fair complexion of the twins, because John Smith is African American and Jane Smith is Caucasian,” according to documents from the state Health Department.
The test results revealed that the woman’s husband was not the biological father.
“Based upon the DNA analysis of the twins after their birth, they do not have the genetic DNA material of the intended father; this is a gross and very serious violation of the standard of care,” the complaint states.
The couple alleged the doctor was the girls’ biological father and filed a lawsuit to that effect in August 2005.
Ramaley’s attorney, Steven Errante, responded to the state Department of Health investigation and said that the woman was a patient but denied that Dr. Ramaley was the twins’ biological father.
The case was settled with no depositions taken and a gag order put in place.
Now, two Stamford attorneys, Stephan Seeger and Lindy Urso, say they want to bring the doctor back to court to make him answer questions and possibly find other victims.
Documents show that two different Department of Public Health consultants found serious violations with how Dr. Ramaley labeled and identified sperm samples.
The doctor's attorney, Errante, calls the case old news. When asked if his client was worried about this information getting to his other patients, Errante says Ramaley is more concerned about the couple who sued him. "He's surprised it comes out all these years later and I think he feels badly for the couple involved because now they may end up in the public light."
One patient outside the doctor's new offices in Southport says she trusts Ramaley. "I have complete confidence in him and his principles and his ethics and standards and I find it hard to believe this could be true," said Dawn Lyon.
A representative from the Department of Public Health explained they pursued this to the extent their authority allowed.
He said Ramaley is no longer allowed to perform the same type of insemination as was involved in this case.
First Published: Nov 12, 2009 5:55 PM EDT
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