Elizabeth McQuern: Chicago Photographer and Filmmaker

November 14, 2005

Child Born from Sperm Donation Traces Father on Internet

Oops. Makes you wish you'd flipped burgers in college instead of that other, "easier," job, huh? The one where looking at pornography actually improved your job performance, and was encouraged by the people who signed your paychecks?
A 15-year-old boy born from anonymously-donated sperm reportedly 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.

According to the British weekly New Scientist, 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.
Elizabeth McQuern at 9:33 PM
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Hi, I'm Elizabeth

Elizabeth McQuern
Chicago, IL, United States
Hi, I'm Elizabeth McQuern, a photographer and filmmaker with one foot in the comedy world. Wife, mother, nice girl from Indiana. Visit my website http://elizabethmcquern.com/!
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