Some people may have heard this story before. Is not new. In fact, you have to go back to 2006 to tell it. However, what happened to Lydia fairchild with their children is, at least, curious. And it is that the mother discovered that she was not the biological mother of her children and was about to lose them.
In 2006, Lydia separated from her husband and wanted ask for maintenance. To do this, he had to show that they were all related; So he had DNA tests done on all family members, including the father, and sent the results along with the other divorce papers.
However, these things don’t always work out. It is not only that the divorce was not resolved favorably, but also that she was accused of trying to deceive the state. And it is that genetic tests yielded a strange truth: Lydia Fairchild was not the biological mother of her sons. But she had given birth and raised these children, could it be a mistake? “No,” they told him, just as he collects IFLScience. “DNA is 100% infallible and does not lie“.
The AND “does not lie”
But if the DNA doesn’t lie, how is it possible that the paternity tests were correct for Lydia’s ex-husband, who was listed as a father, but not for her? Furthermore, the fact that he appeared as a parent dispelled the idea, for example, that there had been an exchange of children at the hospital.
Although genetic testing is very reliable, it is true that samples can sometimes be contaminated. For this reason and knowing that the father of the children came out as such in the tests, another analysis was carried out. In this, Lydia was still not the biological mother of her children. And in the next DNA test. Also in the next one that was done. So the state messed it up even more and filed a fraud lawsuit against her.
Tetragametic chimerism
Here comes the case of another woman. Karen keegan, who four years earlier needed a kidney transplant. When she was tested for compatibility with her three children, it turned out that two of them were not her biological descendants; but yes from her husband, as in the first case. It was this case that helped Lydia win her case. And it is that both Karen and she were chimeras. Or more specifically that they suffer tetragametic chimerism. But what is this? And how can you make a woman have children without her DNA?
Theories on tetragametic chimerism suggest that the trouble it begins with fertilization. And it is produced when two different eggs are fertilized by two different sperm; but that instead of giving rise to two embryos, in the first weeks one of them absorbs the other. Thus, there are two different cell populations. In addition, the genetic material of the other embryo always stays with its brother. So it was in the cases of Lydia and Karen.
People with tetragametic chimerism may have two blood types, different eye colors, or other physical signs such as different skin colors. In Lydia’s case, decided to take cells from other parts of the body, beyond drawing blood, to verify this possibility. And the vaginal smear they took collected cells that did match her children. Ultimately, his little ones were actually sons of his sister, who had never been born; but yes his genetic material had remained in Lydia.
Tetragametic chimerism cases are very rare, there are about 100 cases diagnosed worldwide; but it is also possible that they are underdiagnosed. And it is that many people do not find out that they have two different groups of cells until something happens like what happened to Karen and Lydia. Of course, it is interesting to know in case one day they tell us that our children are not ours. Or if we present sexual characteristics of two types, since the same could happen with a brother of the different sex. Although most likely we are not all chimeras, unlike these two women.