A father named Joseph Cartellone, of Delaware, Ohio, discovered this year that he is not the biological father of his daughter Rebecca, 24, with his wife, Jennifer.
They say that the truth came out when their daughter gave them home DNA kits in Christmas.
After following the fertility problem, Mr. and Mrs. decided to try and conceive through in-vitro fertilization – otherwise known as IVF. The family claims that the hospital and fertility clinic that treated them used another man’s sperm to create the embryo when a couple underwent in vitro fertilization (IVF) in 1994.
Cartellone told Good Morning America: “When we looked at the results, what we immediately noticed was that that there were no traces of Italian DNA in [Rebecca’s results] at all,”
“And her DNA matched my wife’s pretty closely.”
Cartellone said that they thought it would be a mistake and they called the maker of the DNA kit but it turned out to be true. According to the lawsuit, Rebecca and her father later underwent a legal paternity test that confirmed he is not her biological father.
“My disbelief turned quickly to shock and then ultimately to anger that this could possibly be the case,” Cartellone said.
One of the family’s attorneys, Joseph Peiffer, said at a news conference that the Cartellone family used the results of the DNA test to trace Rebecca’s biological father to a “handful of individuals.”
According to the Mirror, now the Cartellone family is suing the Institute for Reproductive Health, The Christ Hospital and Ovation Fertility, all of Cincinnati.
During a press conference, Mr. Cartellone said: “Never in my worst nightmare did I think that the Christmas gift of DNA testing for my family would unveil this kind of abuse of our trust by the very professionals from whom we sought help.”
“This has been extremely difficult for my family. I want to do whatever it takes to make sure no one else has to go through what we did.”
In a statement to Good Morning America, The Christ Hospital Health Network said: “While we are evaluating the allegations surrounding events alleged to have occurred in the early 1990’s, it is The Christ Hospital Health Network’s practice to not publicly comment on pending litigation.”