A Utah couple was left in shock when a casual DNA test unearthed a shocking revelation that would change their family forever. Vanner and Donna Johnson of Salt Lake City had turned to IVF treatment back in 2007 to help them conceive a second child. The treatment was successful, and the couple joyfully welcomed a son into their lives. As their son grew, they were always open with him about his IVF conception.
However, over a decade later, the Johnsons’ lives took an unexpected turn when they decided to take a ’23andMe’ DNA test just for fun. The test results brought confusion and disbelief as it showed that the father of their son was listed as ‘unknown’. Speaking to ABC4, Donna recounted the unsettling discovery, “When my results showed up showing two sons immediately and seeing our oldest was a half-sibling to his younger brother, through me, we knew there must’ve been something wrong.”
A follow-up DNA test confirmed the unimaginable: Vanner was not the biological father of his son. This meant that during the IVF process, Donna’s egg had been fertilized with another man’s sperm. An astonished Vanner told ABC4, “There were a lot of emotions we had to work through including separating the love of our son which has not changed…to the issue that we were dealing with. This mistake that happened, how could it happen, why did it happen and what do we do now?”
The family took a year to find the right moment to discuss the news with their son, who thankfully, accepted the revelation well.
Determined to uncover more, Vanner embarked on a quest to identify the biological father. His research led him to a man named Devin. After making contact, Devin confirmed he had also undergone IVF. The two families started connecting the dots, with Devin’s wife remembering a significant overlap at the clinic, “There was one date that we were in the clinic at the same time. I was doing transfers so that’s when they put the embryos back inside and she was doing retrieval when they take your eggs and retrieve them and it was that same day…we think around the same time um 14 years ago.”
The Johnsons and the other family worked to forge a positive relationship from the complex situation, even meeting up in person. However, they all agreed that more stringent regulations were needed to prevent such errors in the future. Devin stressed, “We shouldn’t be looking back and trying to fix problems, there should be things in place to prevent these and issues and it shouldn’t fall on the patient to take charge.”
In response to their situation, the families pursued a legal case against the University of Utah Center for Reproductive Medicine. They reached an out-of-court settlement in 2022. Following the public emergence of the story, the clinic issued a statement emphasizing their commitment to patient safety and care: “The safety and care of our patients is our primary goal. Our providers and staff strive to provide excellent care and we constantly work to make improvements.”