Conceiving Crime: A DNA test exposes a 40 year old crime

In the new episode of the Conceiving Crime podcast, host Sami Parker examines the story of a couple desperate for a child — and a little girl who would grow up to discover a massive secret hidden for 40 years.

Major shocking errors in the fertility industry have recently been making headlines. Many involve ‘accidents’ based on human error — such as the wrong sperm being used to conceive a child in the lab or an embryo mixup during the implantation phase. These ‘mistakes’ have led to devastation for parents and children and lawsuits against fertility businesses. But what if the ‘mistake’ wasn’t a mistake at all?

A DNA Test Revealed The Dark Truth of Her Conception | Conceiving Crime Podcast

In the mid-1970s, as the fertility industry was beginning to gain popularity in the United States, a couple — each on their second marriage — wanted to have a baby. But the husband had previously undergone a vasectomy, and they knew that they would need the help of a fertility doctor in order to conceive a child. They turned to her OB/GYN for help, and ultimately decided to use a sperm donor. Following a miscarriage, they learned she was pregnant again, and as the pregnancy progressed, they made plans for adding this new child into their lives.  

In 1977, they welcomed a baby girl they named Barbara, and all seemed fine for four decades — until that baby girl, now grown up and aware that she was conceived using a sperm donor, wanted to know more about her genetic background. It was 2018, and Barbara knew nothing about her biological father, so she did what more than 26 million other Americans have done – she took an at-home DNA test — two, actually — one through Ancestry.com and the other through 23andMe.com. It seemed like a simple process, but Barbara could never have imagined what she would soon learn about who her father really was.

The discovery would shock her and her parents, and send Barbara on a journey to find out more information, even putting an ad in a local newspaper. What she found out would lead to a lawsuit, years of legal action, and a 2.2 million dollar payout — but not for Barbara.