Gothamist
A non-profit newsroom, powered by WNYC.
Gothamist
Listen Live
News
LI Man Sues Fertility Clinic After He Discovers Accidental Pregnancy Wasn't So Accidental
By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 26, 2011
Modified Nov 27, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
Never miss a story
Email address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .
By
Ben Yakas
Published Nov 26, 2011
Modified Nov 27, 2011
Share
FacebookTwitterRedditEmail
We rely on your support to make local news available to all
Make your contribution now and help Gothamist thrive in 2026. Donate today
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
, but not all accidents are actually accidents: a Long Island man is suing the fertility clinic which he claims his ex-girlfriend used to store his "stolen" sperm. Joseph Pressil, 36, says his ex Anetria Burnett used the stolen sperm to get herself pregnant after they broke up, and then sued him for child support. “A gold digger is an understatement. She was trying to get community property and alimony. She’s ruthless...This is more than a nightmare—it’s a horror story," Pressil told the Post.
According to ABC, Pressil says he and Burnett, an exotic dancer, only dated for six months when he was living in Texas in 2006. Pressil, a telecommunications manager, was surprised when she informed him she was pregnant with twins after they had broken up: “We always used condoms,” he noted. But when a DNA test proved he was definitely the father, Pressil said he began paying $800 a month in child support: “At first, I doubted [the children were mine], but I figured I would wait until the twins were born. But when the kids were born, they looked just like me.”
Pressil then received a strange receipt in the mail for sperm cryopreservation from the Advanced Fertility Center of Texas. That's where he discovered Burnett had been taking his sperm: "She was taking [the semen in condoms] after the fact and running down to the clinic with it,” said Jason Gibson, who is representing Pressil in the lawsuit. Pressil confronted his ex, who according to him said, "Oh you're not stupid. I thought you knew."
Gibson calls it a case of theft: "If they've got him listed as a patient they need his consent to do anything. They violated their own policies and procedures by not getting that consent." Pressil currently has joint custody with Burnett, but plans to fight for full custody now "because of all her scandalous ways."
Tagged
accidents
fertility clinic
long island
pregnancy
stolen sperm
texas
Ben Yakas
Ben Yakas is a former Gothamist reporter.
Read more
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
MORE news
Inside Luigi Mangione's legal strategy before his federal guilty plea
Newly unsealed transcripts and court filings reveal how his lawyers weighed a mental health defense — and the risk it could have posed to his federal case.
By
Samantha Max
Published Oct 20, 2026 at 12:37 p.m. ET
NYC proposes crackdown down on AI customer service chatbots
Customers would have to be provided the option of speaking with a human.
By
Arya Sundaram
News
NYC proposes crackdown down on AI customer service chatbots
Customers would have to be provided the option of speaking with a human.
By
Arya Sundaram
Early Addition: There's a new hot duck, this time in Queens
By
James Ramsay
NYPD hate crime unit investigates smashed windows, ‘Pal Action’ graffiti at UES Capital One
By
Ryan Kost
A reliably Republican part of NJ, until ICE came to town
By
Mike Hayes
Never miss a story
Catch up on the most important headlines with a roundup of essential NYC stories, delivered to your inbox daily.
Sign upEmail address
By submitting your information, you're agreeing to receive communications from New York Public Radio in accordance with our Terms .