• News
  • Film and TV
  • Music
  • Tech
  • Features
  • Celebrity
  • Politics
  • Weird
  • Community
  • Advertise
  • Terms
  • Privacy & Cookies
  • LADbible Group
  • LADbible
  • SPORTbible
  • GAMINGbible
  • Tyla
  • UNILAD Tech
  • FOODbible
  • License Our Content
  • About Us & Contact
  • Jobs
  • Latest
  • Topics A-Z
  • Authors
Facebook
Instagram
X
Threads
TikTok
YouTube
Submit Your Content
Family is torn apart after teen daughter takes DNA test and the results uncover heartbreaking mistake

Home> News> US News

Published 11:47 2 Oct 2024 GMT+1

Family is torn apart after teen daughter takes DNA test and the results uncover heartbreaking mistake

The devastated family are now suing the clinic where they had their IVF treatment

Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton

Featured Image Credit: Nevada Fertility Cares/Getty/ronstik

Topics: News, US News, Las Vegas, Health, Parenting

Niamh Shackleton
Niamh Shackleton

Niamh Shackleton is an experienced journalist for UNILAD, specialising in topics including mental health and showbiz, as well as anything Henry Cavill and cat related. She has previously worked for OK! Magazine, Caters and Kennedy.

X

@niamhshackleton

Advert

Advert

Advert

A family who conceived their child using IVF have made a heartbreaking discovery 18 years later.

Almost 100,000 families each year turn to IVF to help them conceive, making it a common method of having child for couples who struggle with infertility.

It's thought that more than eight million babies have been born from IVF since 1978, Cleveland Clinic reports.

Advert

While it's now a fairly common practice, that doesn't stop mistakes from happening - as one family have recently learned for themselves.

An 18-year-old daughter, who was born via IVF, did a DNA test via Ancestry.com to find out more about her history last year.

But she ended up finding out something unexpected; that she was not biologically related to her parents.

Advert

In light of the heartbreaking discovery, the family (who have not been named) are suing the now-defunct Nevada Fertility Care.

Speaking on the matter, their lawyer Robert Murdock said, as per 8 News Now: "My client had more tears than I’ve ever seen someone shed, because what he thought was his daughter - isn’t."

Murdock filed the lawsuit Monday (September 30) in Clark County District Court.

Rachel A. McConnell, MD, is named as the defendant in the suit.

Advert

The family made a shocking discovery 18 years after undergoing IVF (Getty Stock)
The family made a shocking discovery 18 years after undergoing IVF (Getty Stock)

The teenager's mom died in 2022, a year before her daughter took the test, meaning she never knew about the apparent IVF mishap.

It is the father and daughter who are suing the clinic and McConnell.

The DNA results are said to have shown that neither the teenager’s father’s sperm nor the donor egg were implanted in the mother.

Advert

It's believed that the embryo came from another Las Vegas family instead. Meanwhile, it's unknown what happened to the couple's embryo that wasn't used.

Rachel A. McConnell has been named as the defendant (ColumbiaDoctors/YouTube)
Rachel A. McConnell has been named as the defendant (ColumbiaDoctors/YouTube)

While the clinic that they received the treatment at is no longer running, both the doctor and embryologist remain working in the IVF industry, the lawsuit said.

Following the discovery, the 18-year-old's father now has to legally adopt her. He'll also have to amend her birth certificate.

Advert

The family's lawyer said that the point of the suit is 'finding out what happened, why and hopefully making sure that this is the only mistake out there'.

The documents cite negligence and malpractice, and demand a jury decide any culpability and potential damages.

UNILAD have approached McConnell for comment.

The father now has to legally adopt his 18-year-old daughter (Getty Stock)
The father now has to legally adopt his 18-year-old daughter (Getty Stock)

Advert

A similar ordeal has happened to a family in Salt Lake City too.

Vanner and Donna Johnson had IVF treatment in 2007 and went on to welcome a son.

But after doing a DNA test for fun, it was revealed that Donna’s egg was fertilized by someone else’s sperm during the IVF process.

They went on to take action against the University of Utah Center for Reproductive Medicine.

Advert

In 2022, they settled the suit out of court.

  • Teen wakes up from coma and uses sign language to tell mom a heartbreaking message
  • Body of missing teen found after sending heartbreaking two-word message to mom days before
  • Father takes DNA test as daughter is 'too pretty to be his' and discovers the shocking truth
  • Woman who was given DNA test as a gift made heartbreaking discovery after taking it

Choose your content:

an hour ago
2 hours ago
3 hours ago
  • an hour ago

    People think there’s a sinister reason why Trump was walking in a zig zag before greeting Putin

    The US president met with Vladimir Putin in Alaska on Friday

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    Chilling footage of 'Bryan Kohberger in jail' shows killer with red hands, sparking new investigation

    Leaked footage depicts the convicted killer with bright red hands, just days after complaining that he was being 'taunted' by inmates

    News
  • 2 hours ago

    3 people dead and 8 wounded after multiple gunmen open fire in restaurant as police release details

    The shooting occurred in the early hours of Sunday morning (August 17)

    News
  • 3 hours ago

    Sensitive new details revealed after government papers were left behind at Trump-Putin meeting

    Details of Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin's Alaska summit were allegedly found at an Alaska hotel

    News