Child born from sperm donation traces father on Internet
A 15-year-old boy born from anonymously-donated sperm used an online DNA-testing service and the Internet to track down his genetic father, a feat which suggests that promises of donor secrecy are worthless, the British weekly New Scientist reports on Saturday.
The teenager was able to rip through every veil of anonymity by using a DNA test, genealogical records and searches on the Internet, it says.
The boy, who was not named, started the hunt for his biological father by rubbing a swab along the inside of his cheek, putting it in a vial and sending it off to an online US DNA genealogy service, with a payment of 289 dollars (240 euros).
The service, designed to help people uncover their family tree, matched the boy's Y chromosome -- which passes from father to son, virtually unchanged -- against a databank of Y chromosomes from other men.
After nine months, he was contacted by two men whose Y chromosomes closely matched his own.
posted by Fergie @ 11/02/2005 11:38:00 AM
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