Evolution Of DNA Testing
Since its rise to fame in the 1980's DNA testing has changed significantly. In today's time, DNA tests are used for stuff like forensic analysis and paternity tests, so we quickly became acquainted with them.
With DNA testing becoming commercialized and available for home use, some people discovered things about themselves that were unknown for the longest time, like their true ancestral heritage. But for some, the results were not as good as for others.
Experimenting
Jessica Stavena was one of the people who discovered some dark secrets of her past because of a simple, commercial DNA test.
Jessica was unsuspecting when she did the test. There wasn't much about her life or conception that she didn't know. She already knew that she was conceived through artificial insemination so nothing could go wrong, or could it? When the results arrived, Jessica was shocked by the unexpected information they revealed.
Secrets Being Revealed
When Jessica did the test, she never expected the results to reveal information about her biological father, but they did, and that information came as a shock to everyone involved.
The information revealed would change her life and that of her family forever. But what did they say? How could they alter her life so dramatically?
Backstory
After years of struggling Jessica's mother had a successful insemination attempt at a clinic in California. She gave birth to Jessica in 1987. The baby was seen as a miracle by her parents, a blessing after so many failed attempts.
It was only years later that the secret behind her conception slowly started to unravel and the truth behind that secret came as a surprise to her entire family.
Real Donor
For years Jessica saw her biological father as a number. To her, he was a file in a long-forgotten cupboard that would never see the light of day again. But then she took that DNA test and got a hint as to who he really was.
He was not a number anymore, but the truth was much worse than she could ever imagine.
The Woman Behind The Test
Jessica lives in Houston, where she runs a successful medical spa at a plastic surgery practice. She has a joyous and fulfilling life, even though she's juggling her business and three children. What could a DNA test do to change that?
Was she searching for answers about her biological father? Or was it far less complicated than that?
Simple Test
Jessica was suffering from some gastrointestinal issues, and she did a DNA test to see if the origins of her issues might've been hereditary. She never expected to find something so grim.
When her results came in a few months later Jessica stared at them in a state of shock and utter confusion. Her DNA was a match with that of several others. She had multiple, unexpected half-siblings on the company's database.
How Could That Be?
The year was 1984. Jessica's mother, Pauline, had been trying to have a child for over a decade, and she had no luck. She decided to try again and went to Nacogdoches where she met Dr. Kim McMorries.
Pauline was feeling distraught. After so many failed attempts she was starting to lose the hope she had of her biggest dream coming true. Being a mother was all she ever wanted but the attempts kept failing.
What Came Next?
Pauline had tried several artificial insemination clinics before meeting Dr. McMorries but all of them were unsuccessful.
With such a history behind her, Pauline was skeptical, but Dr. McMorries was a man of words. He promised her that she would have the child she longed for if she followed his instructions and treatment. It was a flicker of hope and that was exactly what she needed so she agreed.
A Simple Procedure
Pauline was told that the procedure would be fairly simple, and she hoped that doing what the doctor said would finally allow her to have the child she wanted.
It would be a dream come true for her. All the years of struggling would've been worth it if she could hold a baby of her own. She was willing to try anything to make that happen.
Not All Hope Is Lost
Pauline went through multiple attempts to get pregnant with Dr. McMorries’ help, but they were unsuccessful.
They went through various donors listed at the California sperm bank, but their attempts were futile. Pauline started losing hope, but then Dr. McMorries informed her of a donor they hadn’t tried yet.
Last Resort
Dr. McMorries informed Pauline that he had located a local sperm donor he described as a tall, red-haired, music-loving medical resident at a nearby hospital. The thought made the flicker of hope in her chest flare.
Pauline saw this new potential donor as her last resort, and she decided to give it a chance hoping it would finally work out.
Finally
The attempt was successful, Pauline fell pregnant, and her daughter Jessica was born in March 1987.
It was the happiest day of her life, and at the time, she couldn’t fathom how her decision would impact her daughter’s life years later. The father was a random stranger who would never find out about her, or would he?
Happy Family
Pauline Chambless lived a happy life with her husband and raised her daughter Jessica the best she could. Jessica was a blessing, and Pauline was grateful for her miracle child.
She had no idea that decades later, her daughter would unravel a secret that would shake the entire family to the core.
Shocking
When looking at the DNA test results, Jessica discovered that she had three half-siblings, two sisters, and a brother. She was shocked and thrilled by the idea of having many siblings.
But things didn’t end there. A few days later, Jessica received an email from a woman called Eve Wiley, asking if Dr. McMorris had also treated her mother.
Troubling News
After clarifying some information, Eve informed Jessica that she was her half-sister. She also told Jessica their father was not who they assumed he was.
No tall, red-haired, music-loving medical resident at a nearby hospital was donating to the clinic. It was all a lie crafted by Dr. McMorries so women would accept the cells on offer.
Who Was It?
Eve also told Jessica that the sperm donor wasn’t a stranger. He had a vital role in her conception and the conception of multiple children whose parents came to him for artificial insemination. Eve had discovered who their father was, and the news was grim.
Just like her half-sister, Jessica’s father was, in fact, Dr. McMorries himself.
"I Have a Sister"
Eve Wiley's mother had used the same doctor to conceive her. Their mothers lived in the same area and were victims of their doctor's misguided decision decades ago.
When she turned 16 and decided to dig into her biological father, Eva discovered the shocking truth. For years both Eve and her mother believed that her father was “Donor 106” but it turned out that they were wrong.
Same Scenario
In 1986, Eve's parents visited Dr. McMorries for the same reason as Jessica's mother and, the results were the same. Eve Wiley and her mother believed her biological father to be "Donor 106" for years.
She got to know this donor, they bonded over the father-daughter relationship, only to find out that he wasn't her dad.
Surprise Dad
It was decades later when Jessica discovered that she shared dozens of half-siblings, she also found out who the donor of half her genes was. It was the same doctor that administered the insemination.
Dr. McMorries used his cells to inseminate Jessica's mother. He was her actual father and not some red-haired medical student.
Telling Mom
Besides the life-changing news, she also faced another difficult challenge. She had to tell her mother what she learned.
The news brought Jessica's mother to tears. The way the doctor deceived her felt beyond unfair. She was angry, and she wasn't about to stand for it without doing anything.
Registered Donor
When questioned about the events, Dr. McMorries explained that he became a sperm donor as a medical student at the University of Texas in 1970.
Dr. McMorries said he never told Jessica's mother or other patients the truth because protocols were to keep all donors anonymous. The news was unacceptable for the distraught woman.
Filing a Complaint
In March 2020, Jessica and her mother decided to file a complaint against Dr. McMorries with the Texas Medical Board. She had pleaded with the board to discipline the doctor for lying to and impregnating patients.
To Jessica, what the doctor did was a horrific act. He took advantage of her mother's trust during one of her most vulnerable moments.
Eve Joins the Fight
Eve also filed complaints and supplied detailed medical records to the same Texas Medical Board. The two women were committed to their fight and wanted to see the deceiving doctor go down.
The sisters went even further and decided to ensure no woman would have to endure the same thing again.
Fighting Together
Even though Jessica and Eve’s parents didn’t choose for them to be sisters the women stood together to take the doctor on. They wanted to inform people of what happened to their mothers so that cases such as those could be put to an end.
No woman should be deceived like that and they would make sure the crime was punishable.
Changing Laws
Eve and Jessica inspired the passage of one of the nation's strictest laws against a practice that is now called "fertility fraud." In an emotional testimony to Texas senators, Eve described how she learned of McMorries' deception and how devastated she was about the news.
After hearing the touching story, Texas legislators made it a severe felony for any Texas doctor to impregnate patients using their cells.
Doctor McMorries’s confession
During her statement Eve revealed that she contacted Dr. McMorries and that he wrote back to her admitting that he mixed his sperm with that of other donors to increase her mother’s chance of conception.
He also claimed that he got her mother’s consent to use the sperm of a local donor, which her mother denies.
Losses
Even though their complaints were taken seriously by the Texas Medical Board and new laws were implimented Eve and Jessica will never be able to turn back time to help their mother’s avoid this type of malpractice.
The damage has already been done and they have to live with the doctor’s decisions.
Gains
But Eve and Jessica did get something out of this that they never expected. They found each other and they have been standing together since the beginning.
They each have a sister that they never thought they’d have. So a bit of good came out of their tragic situation after all. In order to protect the privacy of those depicted, some names, locations, and identifying characteristics have been changed and are products of the author's imagination. Any resemblances to actual events, places, or persons, living or dead, are entirely coincidental.