Washington man discovers the DNA in his sperm came from his TWIN

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Man who failed paternity test for his child shocked to discover the DNA in his sperm came from his TWIN who was 'lost' in the womb in first-of-its-kind case
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The 34-year-old man and his wife from Washington, who wish to remain anonymous, had a son through the help of a fertility clinic in 2014
When they discovered that the child had a blood type different from his parents, the father underwent a paternity test, which he failed
After accusing the clinic of making a mistake, the father took more detailed genetic testing which revealed he had absorbed the genes of his lost twin

Published: 14:28 EST, 25 October 2015 | Updated: 16:14 EST, 25 October 2015

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A Washington man who was told he was not the biological father of his son has discovered, after extensive genetic testing, that the father of his son was actually his own lost twin brother whose DNA he had absorbed in the womb.

The 34-year-old, who has chosen to remain anonymous, discovered that he was a so-called 'human chimera', someone with extra genes coming from a nascent twin - and his is the first reported case of the condition ever fooling a paternity test.

Around one in eight single childbirths are believed to have started out as multiple pregnancies, and in some cases, cells from one sibling can be absorbed by the other.

Surprise! A 34-year-old Washington man was declared a 'human chimera' after genes from his sperm were proved to be that of a twin brother he absorbed in the womb, and making him the technical 'uncle' of his son

According to Buzzfeed, the man and his wife welcomed a son in June 2014 through the help of a fertility clinic. However, they were confused to learn that the little boy had a different blood type from his parents.

The revelation led the father to take a paternity test, which he failed.

'You can imagine the parents were pretty upset,' Dr Barry Starr, a geneticist at Stanford University, told Buzzfeed. 'They thought the clinic had used the wrong sperm.'

After contacting lawyers to address the issue, the father once again submitted to a paternity test - performed using a cheek swab. It again came back negative.

With their results, the couple confronted the clinic, but were told the man simply had to be the father as he had been the only Caucasian to give sperm that day, and the baby appeared to be Caucasian.

The expert: Dr Barry Starr, a geneticist at Stanford University helped the couple make the discovery

The couple then approached Dr Barry, who suggested they they perform a genetic ancestry test.

After a period of waiting, the shocking results came back: the man was the boy's uncle.

It was then that the doctor realized what they may be dealing with.

'That was kind of a eureka moment,' said Dr Barry. 'Chimera reports are very rare but they are real.'

What the diagnosis meant was that the DNA of the man's saliva differed from the DNA found in his sperm, allowing him to technically father his own nephew. Other signs of the condition exhibited by the man where the noticeable stripes of different-colored skin on his body, a trait typical of Chimeras.

While the case is the first of its kind reported in terms of how the condition failed a paternity test, there have been previously documented examples of women failing maternity tests for their children as a result of chimeric genes.

Boston woman Karen Keegan discovered in 2002 that she wasn't the mother of her children when she was tested alongside of them for compatibility when she was in need of a kidney transplant.

It was discovered that her ovaries held different genes to her blood cells, and that the true genetic mother of her two sons was a twin whom she absorbed in the womb.

In 2006, another woman named Lydia Fairchild, also of Washington, discovered that she was not the mother of her children when she underwent testing as a requirement for applying for government aid following the breakdown of her relationship with the children's father.

The children were nearly removed from her custody before extensive testing revealed that she was a chimera, and therefore her own twin.

Knowing the true number of Chimeras among us is complicated as a result of the secondary genes being only be present in certain organs and not in others.