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More on DNA

2008-07-07 15:39:07

by Donald Richter

 

After yesterday’s article questioning DNA reliability appeared on our website, a friend e-mailed me an ABC News report of August 15, 2006, giving an account of two mothers whose DNA did not match the DNA of their children.
 
Lydia Fairchild, an unemployed mother of three children living in Washington State, had her DNA and that of her children tested as part of the routine procedure of applying for welfare assistance. When the results didn’t match, Fairchild was denied government assistance and accused of committing welfare fraud. She protested that some mistake must have been made, but a CPS worker told her, “Nope. DNA is 100 percent foolproof and it doesn’t lie.” Another worker told her, “You know, we’re able to come get your kids any time.”
 
Fairchild received a summons to appear in court to have her children taken away. Before the case was resolved, however, she gave birth to another child. A court officer was present to take DNA samples from her and from the baby. When the two didn’t match, she was accused of being a paid surrogate.
 
The case was finally resolved when Fairchild’s attorney read in a medical journal about a similar case in Boston where a woman whose DNA did not match that of her children was found to have a rare condition called chimerism, caused by the fusion of two fertilized eggs in the womb. The woman, in effect, was her own twin. The DNA of her blood did not match the DNA of other body tissues. Fairchild was able to keep her children after further testing proved that she also was a chimera.    
 
 


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