N.J. Woman Sues Doc for 'Medical Rape,' Saying Home DNA Kit Shows He Fathered Her Baby — Without Her Consent

Bianca Voss never would have agreed to allow Dr. Martin Greenberg to use his own sperm to impregnate her, she says in a complaint filed Tuesday in federal court

Bianca and Roberta Voss and Roberta's son. Photo: Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane & Conway, LLP

A New Jersey woman is suing a former New York OB-GYN for "medical rape" and "fertility fraud," alleging that a home DNA kit revealed that her doctor — and not an anonymous sperm donor — is her daughter's biological father.

On Tuesday, attorneys Jason Kane and Adam Wolf filed a lawsuit on behalf of Bianca Voss, 75, against Dr. Martin D. Greenberg, 77, of Florida, who they say had a longtime practice in Manhattan. In her complaint, Voss says she learned of his "deceit" after her daughter, Roberta, 36, sought to find out about her family history with a 23andMe DNA test.

"It was devastating to me when Roberta came to me with the news that her home DNA kit showed that Dr. Greenberg was the biological father," Voss said Tuesday at a Zoom press conference.

Bianca Voss case. Voss v. Greenberg

Voss is suing the doctor for 10 causes of action including battery, fraud, intentional misrepresentation, negligence and negligent infliction of emotional distress, according to the complaint filed in the U.S. District Court in the Southern District of New York.

She is seeking a jury trial, an unspecified amount of damages and for Greenberg to provide a copy of his personal health history, according to the complaint. Neither Greenberg nor his former attorney responded to PEOPLE's request for comment on Voss' claims.

Voss said at the press conference she was shocked when she realized Greenberg violated her trust. "How terrible this is for Roberta and my grandson," she said, referencing her claims in the complaint. "I hate that they have to know and live with the fact that their father and grandfather is a medical rapist."

The lawsuit stems from 1983, when Voss "wanted to become a mother," the complaint says.

"I just wanted to have this baby, Roberta," she said Tuesday afternoon. "I felt like that was something I wanted to do."

The complaint says Voss was unable to conceive on her own, so she sought fertility services from Greenberg at his Park Avenue office.

After consulting with Greenberg, Voss said she chose to undergo intrauterine insemination, in which sperm is inserted into a woman's uterus to facilitate pregnancy.

In her case, she paid the doctor $100 to use sperm from an anonymous donor, the complaint alleges.

"Rather than purchase the sperm from an anonymous sperm donor, Greenberg — without Plaintiff's knowledge or consent — used his own sperm to impregnate her," according to the court filing. "As a result, she became pregnant with and gave birth to a daughter who was born in 1984."

Greenberg told her little to nothing about the anonymous donor, though he asked her if she minded if the donor was Jewish, which she did not, Voss said.

The State of New York had previously sanctioned Greenberg for "dishonorable, unethical [and] unprofessional conduct," according to the complaint, which provided no further detail.

Online records show that Greenberg agreed in 2010 to an order barring him from performing surgery in New York state. That action was described as a "non-disciplinary order of conditions for as long as the physician is licensed in New York," and expressly stated there was no admission or finding of misconduct by Greenberg.

Still angry, Voss said, "I want Dr. Greenberg to answer for what he has done. He needs to be held accountable for his actions."

Unexpected Test Results

For years, Bianca Voss said at the press conference, she raised her daughter oblivious to the fact that her biological father was the doctor whose help she sought so many years ago.

When Voss' daughter, Roberta, got DNA test results back in the fall of 2020, she was not prepared to discover that her father was the doctor her mother had visited just twice to help her conceive, Voss said.

Bianca Voss case. Voss v. Greenberg

"I was shocked and disgusted," Roberta said at the press conference, adding, "I did not expect to find out that my mother was violated."

She said she was further shocked when she saw a photo of Greenberg. "The photo really confirmed it for us," Roberta said. "I see his face every time I look in the mirror."

When Voss' daughter received "the devastating news of Greenberg's shocking conduct," the complaint says, she reached out to Greenberg via 23andme.com and email to obtain his medical history.

"Aware that Greenberg's son unfortunately passed away at an early age, she wanted to know if she may have inherited a concerning medical condition," the complaint says. "She also wanted to know if she may have passed on such a condition to her own child. However, Greenberg did not respond."

Cases like Voss' are a result of the lack of regulation in the U.S. fertility industry, said attorney Joseph Peiffer, managing partner of Peiffer, Wolf, Carr, Kane & Conway, the law firm representing Voss. During the press conference, he claimed that the fertility industry is less regulated than nail salons.

A lawyer who handles fertility, IVF and related genetic material lawsuits, Peiffer and his firm have been outspoken about the need for the federal government to take action to "rein in this rogue industry run amok," he says in the release.