Mum finds out she raised stranger's son for 12 years after doing DNA test 'for fun'
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A mum ended up getting one hell of a surprise after her family decided to do some DNA tests 'for fun' and she discovered that their youngest son had been fathered by a stranger.
Donna and Vanner Johnson wanted to discover more about their heritage so together with eldest son, Vanner Jr, and younger child, Tim, they all took tests.
When the family got the results back, Donna thought there must have been some sort of mistake as the test said Tim's father was unknown, and therefore not Vanner's.
The mum then had a moment of 'sickening clarity' when she realised what had happened as the couple's second son had been conceived through IVF and there must have been some sort of mistake in the process.
The couple, from Salt Lake City, Utah, had struggled to conceive a second child after suffering from hernia problems and surgery, so opted for IVF using Donna's eggs and what they thought was Vanner's sperm.
Their 'miracle' son Tim was born and didn't look much like his father, instead taking after his mother in terms of appearance, but they didn't know someone else was his biological father until they took the DNA tests for a bit of fun.
Once they'd realised what had happened, Donna and Vanner were fearful that Tim's biological father could take the child away from them, but they received legal assurances that they were still the boy's parents.
Still, he had to come to terms with the fact that Tim wasn't his biological son, and she said she struggled with depression which caused her to struggle at work.
Vanner took his son for ice cream when he was 12 to break the news that he wasn't the boy's biological father, as they thought it was better not to leave that revelation until Tim was an adult.
The child said he'd like to track down his biological father and further DNA testing led the family to track down a woman who would be Tim's biological aunt.
This led them to a man called Devin McNeil, who lived eight hours away in Colorado and ended up making the call.
Although sceptical at first, Devin agreed to do a DNA test as he and his wife Kelly facetimed with Donna and Vanner to discuss the details.
Devin and Kelly had gone in for IVF for their eldest son, Talon, though testing revealed that Devin was also his father. So rather than a complete mix-up, his DNA had been used for both children.
They all agreed that there would be no custody battle and that Vanner was Tim's dad, but the families all met up in 2021 and have kept in touch since.
