Global Courant 2023-05-22 17:58:55
When a family decided to do DNA tests “for fun”, the mother never thought that the results would shock her so much. She discovered that their youngest son belonged to a stranger.
Donna Johnson, 47, and her husband Vanner, 47, took the DNA tests along with their two sons – Vanner Jr, 18, and Tim, 12. She explained that they took the test “for fun” in in order to discover more about their heritage.
But when they got the results, Donna was shocked. “Reading the results of the DNA tests online, I realized there had been a mistake,” she told The US Sun.
Vanner was the father of their eldest son, but the results showed that the father of the youngest was unknown. After thinking long and analyzing the situation, Donna realized that a mistake might have been made at the IVF clinic.
Vanner and Donna, from Salt Lake City, Utah, met in high school and married in 2003. The couple had their first son, Vanner Jr., and were excited to have another child.
But hernia problems and the surgery caused damage that made it impossible for the couple to conceive naturally. So they did their first round of IVF in 2007, using Donna’s eggs and Vanner’s sperm.
The first round failed, but that same summer they tried again with more success. When their son, Tim, was born in August 2008, Donna said it was the miracle of their lives.
The boys looked different, but Donna pushed those thoughts away as many siblings look different. Vanner Jr was described as having his father’s blue eyes and light hair, while Tim had Donna’s dark hair and was sportier.
As home DNA testing has become more available, the family decided to take their own test to learn more about where they come from. Six weeks later, the results came in and changed their lives forever.
But for Donna, it was hard to watch Vanner come to terms with the fact that Tim was not his biological child. According to her, even though he was in shock, his behavior with Tim continues to be the same.
As husband and wife came to terms with the shocking news, Donna said she sank into depression and tried to focus on her teaching job.
Donna said they decided to tell Tim the truth when he was 12, as they thought it would be worse if he found out as an adult.
So in October 2020, Vanner took Tim out for ice cream to break the news that he wasn’t his biological father. When they returned, Donna hugged her youngest, telling him how much they loved him.
Donna explained that Tim handled the news very maturely. A few weeks later, Tim told his parents that he wanted to find his biological father.
As difficult as it must have been for Donnan and Vanner, they respected his decision. So they used another DNA test from another company, which helped them track down a woman who turned out to be Tim’s biological aunt. They found Tim’s dad named Devin McNeil who lived in Colorado, eight hours away from the family.
Donna and Vanner called Devin in March 2021. Vanner and Devin spoke on the phone, and although Devin, 47, had been skeptical, he agreed to take a DNA test.
Donna said they spoke on FaceTime with Devin and his wife Kelly, 46, which caused anxiety.
The two couples agreed that there would be no custody battle, but just wanted to find out how it happened and what to do next.
It turned out that the couples had been to the same IVF clinic on the same day, 14 years earlier. Donna had gone to retrieve her eggs, while Kelly went to have the embryo implanted for her older son.
DNA tests confirmed that Devin was Tim’s father, the sperm samples were not swapped, but instead Devin’s was somehow used for both.
Global Courantl
