"We had a monogamous relationship." Gift DNA tests give paternity surprises and judicial demands

By Zoe Schiffer - NBC News

Vanner's wife Johnson, Donna, had bought the genetic test kit to take home 23 for fun for fun.But when her husband received the results of her family in August in August 2019, she noticed something strange.His 11 -year -old son, Tim, did not appear as his biological relative.

The couple soon learned that the hospital where Donna had undergone an in vitro fertilization (IVF) 12 years before had probably mixed sperm samples.Vanner was not Tim's biological father.

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"There were many unanswered questions," Donna said."We had no idea who our son's biological father was".When the Johnson finally located Tim's biological father at the beginning of last year, using a second DNA test and some strategic searches on Google, they knew he had been another patient from the fertility clinic.

"Actually it was almost comforting when we discovered that it was another patient, it was like," at least she was not the doctor, "Donna explained.

The history of the Johnson is one of the many secrets of paternity who have come to light in recent years as the popularity of the genetic tests to take home has shot.

In September and October 2021, the sales of the 23Andme website fired more than 47%, according to data from the Bloomberg Second Measure analysis company.Some fertility specialized lawyers have reported more cases of this type after family members gave these evidence at parties.

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"I have seen a substantial increase in these cases in recent years," said Adam B.Wolf, a lawyer specialized in demand fraud."Our clients usually call in February, after receiving the results of homemade DNA tests they receive for vacations".

Medical breach

In 2020, Beverly Willhelm, one of Wolf's clients, filed a lawsuit against her fertility doctor, Phillip M.Milgram, after discovering that he had used his own sperm to fertilize it, instead of an anonymous donor.

Like Vanner Johnson, Willhelm realized what happened after his son undergo a 23Andme test."The plaintiff's son is the result of a medical violation," says the demand."The plaintiff is shocked and devastated by the abuse of power of the defendant to violate her trust," he adds.

Milgram's lawyer, Curtis Goe, did not respond to a request for comments by phone and email.But the case is scheduled for a jury trial on April 29.

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Most paternity discoveries that have been news in recent years follow a similar pattern.“We have represented about two dozen women who went to their fertility doctor waiting.com, that the doctor took the freedom to introduce his own sperm in his offsembled patients without authorization or consent.It is a serious invasion of body autonomy, ”said Wolf.

In a statement, the Communications Director of 23Andme, Andy Kill, said: “With the genetic tests easily available to consumers, we are listening to more and more stories of families that discover and meet with newly found relatives, and of customers foundUnexpected results in your reports ".

"Although 23Andme was not specifically designed to help people confirm their kinship or find their biological parents, our DNA relatives tool helps people find and connect with their participating genetic relatives," he adds.

"This function is completely optional, which means that customers must actively choose to participate and are informed in advance that, when using the tool, they can discover unexpected relationships," he concludes.

The company also said that its customer service team is specifically trained to help customers who find out of unexpected family members through the use of the service.

Track paternity

In 2020, Tim Johnson made a second DNA test, this time through ancestry.com.Through that test, he ended up connecting with Devin McNeil, a father of three children who lives in Colorado, and called him."We may have something in common for IVF," he told Devin.

Vanner asked him if McNeil and his wife, Kelly, had undergone IVF through the Utah University Medicine Center.He replied that yes.The couple realized that they had probably been at the clinic on the same day in 2007.

"Each piece of information was really deployed without a doubt, time, the tests," said Devin."So it didn't spend much time before it was difficult not to believe it.".

The UTAH University Reproductive Medicine Center did not respond to the request for NBC News comments.

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Now the McNeil face a similar dilemma: what to say to their children, 13, 8 and 6 years old.Like the Johnson, they opted for sincerity."We had to explain to our younger children that sometimes mom and dad need help to have babies and do it outside the body," Kelly said."And we explain the IVF in simple terms.And that an error was made in the laboratory and made a baby with the ovules of another woman ”.

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The McNeil underwent a DNA test to confirm that their child, conceived by IVF, was biologically related to Devin.And it was.The confusion, apparently, had only occurred on one side.The children of the McNeil were all biologically their children.

In a statement sent by email to NBC News, ancestry spokeswoman Katherine Wylie said: “Ancestrydna helps people to obtain a new level of understanding about their lives by combining the advanced DNA science with the greatest resource of history of historyFamily online of the world to estimate genetic ethnicity and helps users find new family connections ".

Anonymous donors

Even in cases where the donor is really anonymous and unknown to the woman who gets pregnant, DNA kits can raise thorny ethical issues.Nara Milanich, history professor at Barnard College and author of Paternity: The Elusive Quest for The Father, affirms that the ease of discovering the paternity of a person could deter her from donating sperm.

"The commercialization of this technology has opened these issues around the ethics of the discovery of paternity," he said.“I will not say if people should have an unlimited right to know the DNA or not.But I will say that we have not had a public conversation that addresses those issues.You can buy these tests anywhere and give them at Christmas, and it is likely that it does not change ”.

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The United States has rushed to adopt this new technology, but it has taken to address the privacy problems that Milanich added.This is due, in part, that the test kits to take home are not subject to the same regulations as medical tests, according to Wired.

As such, they do not have to comply with the Portability and Responsibility Law of Medical Insurance (HIPAA), which would force them to maintain the privacy of their customers' genetic data.According to the website of the Food and Medicines Administration (FDA), the agency does not regulate the tests with “non -medical purposes, general or low medical risk” purposes ”.

Although the FDA does not warn consumers about the error potential of these evidence, it advises consumers to "use their judgment when asking and interpreting the results of these tests" because genetic test companies can produce varied results.

“In France, DNA tests are strictly limited.You can only do a DNA test with the order of a judge, ”says Milanich.

Things could be starting to change.In October, the governor of California, Gavin Newsom, signed the Law on the Privacy of Genetic Information, which requires DNA test companies to the consumer to be informed about how their data will be collected and used.

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Both Utah and Arizona approved similar laws earlier this year.They will not change the ease with which people can access DNA data, but they could stop the way DNA test companies such as 23Andme can use the data.

Alex Stack, a Newsom spokesman, sent NBC News to the California Health Department, who said in a statement that the legislation would allow consumers to revoke their consent in relation to the use of their genetic information, and would force companies todestroy the biological sample of the consumer within 30 days of the reception of this request.The statement indicates that the law aims to allow consumers to "control their genetic data without fear that third parties exploit them".

Facing the future

In June, the Johnson and McNeil families decided to meet in person, in a Utah park.Tim sent Devin a list of questions in advance: “How much did you finish when you finished the ninth grade?Did you have weak milk teeth?Do you have the navel in or out? ”.

Devin joked saying that he had been worried about the questions before the meeting, but quickly realized that "he didn't have to study.".

“I think what most excited Tim was to know that Devin measured 1.90 meters, because I measure 1.70 meters and we knew that I was not going to get any height of me, ”said Vanner."So now you have hope," he added.

While 23 Andme includes a warning label in their results regarding DNA relatives (“By participating in DNA relatives, you could discover unexpected relationships.Although they are not common, these discoveries could affect you and your family ”).Donna Johnson said he never foresaw the results."We had a monogamous relationship.There was no doubt.So we got into this with great naivety, ”he explained.

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Both families are preparing the demands against the Center for Reproductive Medicine of the University of Utah.

Meanwhile, they encourage all those who have submitted to the IVF to have a DNA test.Of course, if they are prepared for the results.