After Lily learned her husband, Hugh, was having an ongoing affair, she filed for a divorce. Plus, she declared she was going to make him pay high child support fees. What followed is a bitter custody battle for their three children. Somehow, Hugh convinced the court that Lily was not the kids’ biological mother — using DNA as evidence. Fortunately, the truth revealed itself and many Hugh’s lies were exposed. This story was inspired by a reader of AmoMama, where it was originally published.
Her DNA Did Not Match Her Children’s
At court, Hugh presented the judge with an outright lie: “Lily is not the biological mother of our children.” He sang a tune about how she tricked him using his sperm bank, illegal surrogates, fake pregnancies, and pretending to give birth while abroad. Lily was astounded. The only bit of truth was that he hadn’t seen her give birth. He hadn’t been present at any of the deliveries, but that was because he chose not to. He had said he was too squeamish, even when she said he didn’t need to be part of the birth; she just wanted him to hold her hand. In the end, Lily’s mother sat by her side instead of him. At least, she did for the first two births. She had passed away from cancer shortly before her third grandchild was born
Hugh’s claims were so appalling, Lily didn’t know what to say at first. The judge did, however, ask Hugh for proof. Hugh called for a DNA test and Lily felt relieved. The truth would come out and the ordeal will be over in no time. But she was dead wrong.
The DNA tests showed that Lily was not the biological mother. Lily stated that this was impossible; she had carried each baby to term. But Hugh was relentless, adding that she had broken the law to carry out this farce, making her an unfit mother. Lily’s lawyer, Ray Johnson, argued that Lily was still the legal mother. But in the end, the judge ruled in favor of Hugh, stating the children will stay with Hugh as the situation is investigated.
Looking for Answers
Lily was distraught. Even her lawyer questioned her story until she presented her children’s birth certificates. The documents were all in order, but it was easier to contest them than actual DNA reports. However, Johnson promised to find the solution.
When Hugh picked up the children from Lily’s, he gloated over his victory. Since the kids were present, Lily tried to be as civil as possible. She asked him how he knew about the DNA results, and he reminded Lily when she had the family take genetics tests. After her mother died from cancer, Lily was scared of losing another loved one, so she and the children got screened for possible diseases. To her relief, they came back negative, but Hugh who worked at a lab took a closer look at the tests and saw the discrepancies. He said nothing at the time because Lily was finally calmed after months of grieving. He didn’t know why her DNA was different, but he no longer cared. It paid off beautifully for him.
Days later, a call from Johnson interrupted Lily’s distress. He asked her if she had heard the term chimera. It’s an extremely rare condition that occurs when a fetus absorbs its twin in the womb and gains two sets of DNA. Often, this can happen before the mother even knows she carries twins so people don’t know they are chimeras. But their DNA tests can differ, depending on where the sample is taken from.
“The Truth Will Out”
After seeing a specialist, Lily learned that she is indeed a chimera. Back at court, she couldn’t contain her smile when Johnson explained her status to the judge. Hugh tried to fight this, but the judge issued another DNA sample from Lily. This time, her second set of DNA matched her children’s.
After that, the judge ruled in favor of Lily. For Hugh, he issued costly child support and restitution for the distress he caused with his lies. Lily got custody of her children and eventually married a wonderful man who stayed by her side as she delivered her fourth child. She later learned Hugh’s girlfriend — the one he cheated on Lily with — dumped him after realizing that Hugh was married at the time. Hugh had lied through his teeth with her as he did with Lily. But the truth had finally caught up with him.
This story was inspired by an original piece of fiction that first appeared on AmoMama. Any similarities between this story and actual people are purely coincidental.
Sources
- “3 Human Chimeras That Already Exist.” Scientific American. Rachael Rettner. August 8, 2016