Woman Takes A DNA Test And Uncovers A Secret That Changes Everything
"There wasn’t a lot of remorse; there wasn’t a lot of concern."
When US mom Victoria Hill took a DNA test last year hoping to learn more about her family’s health history, she never imagined it would turn her world upside down.
The results didn’t just uncover a hidden truth about the mother of two’s biological father. They also pointed to a disturbing act committed by a local Connecticut doctor.
In just a few weeks, Hill learned that the man she had always believed was her father was not. And even more shocking, her ex-boyfriend turned out to be her biological brother.
Hill shared her story on ITV’s This Morning during a conversation with hosts Cat Deeley and Ben Shepherd, where she recounted the moment everything changed.
She explained that it all started when she sent a saliva sample to the DNA service 23andMe, just looking for some medical insights.
Naturally, she was surprised when the results suggested she had multiple half-siblings, despite always thinking she was an only child.
"But I very quickly dismissed it and thought it was an error," she told the presenters.
Around the same time, Hill began receiving emails from a woman she didn’t know — someone who believed they might be related.
"As she continued to push, she said, 'Did your mother go to Yale Fertility Clinic to get help for fertility?'" Hill added.
That question was the turning point. Suddenly, everything clicked. Her parents had faced fertility issues before her birth and had received treatment at the same clinic the woman mentioned.
Victoria Hill recalled the horror during an appearance on This Morning (ITV)
ITV
"She had my attention and she gave me the rest of the information," Hill continued, revealing the shocking truth that the doctor involved in the procedure was actually her biological father.
Both Hill’s mother and the other woman’s mother had received treatment for years from New England endocrinologist Burton Caldwell.
Instead of using her mother’s husband’s sample during fertility treatment, Caldwell had used his own sperm.
"It was pretty surreal. It took a while to set in," she admitted on the show. "I have to say growing up I felt a part of me was different or distant, we used to have a joke, between my father and I, that the only thing that was similar was our hands.
"In some weird ways, it clicked. But it seemed too bizarre, throughout the different stages of it.
"Not only is it the man who raised me not my biological father, but my mother's doctor that she went to for over eight years of treatment trying to conceive, then kind of bringing her the news, sharing that with her."
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In the weeks that followed, Hill learned she had as many as 25 other siblings living in her local area — including someone she once dated.
According to Hill, it was her ex-boyfriend who reached out to her after making the connection.
Just weeks earlier, the two had reunited with a group of high school friends, and during the gathering, Hill shared the surprising news about her newly discovered siblings.
"We started sharing info with close friends and fast forward to a dinner and it was at that time that as I'm telling this story, my high school boyfriend, now friend, looked like he was turning something over in his head," she remembered.
"His mother had recently told him that (...) [she] went for fertility treatment with his father."
Hill went on to explain, "He ultimately called his mother and his mother confirmed that the same doctor had performed the same procedure."
Recalling the moment he reached out to her directly, she said, "He sent me the screenshot that, 'You are my sister'."
Hill discovered that she and her high school sweetheart were half-siblings
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"The mind-boggling thing about it was as he sent me the screenshot, I had the notification from my phone on 23andMe that you have a new half-sibling," Hill recalled.
Although misrepresenting the source of sperm, eggs, or embryos during fertility treatment is prohibited under state fertility-fraud laws, it is not classified as a federal crime, according to the University of San Diego School of Law.
As a result, Dr. Caldwell was never charged before his death in February of this year.
"There really are no [regulations]," Hill said. "That’s why we’re fighting. That’s why I’m bringing this story out, so that we can get some better laws, protections and regulations out there."
Before his passing, Hill, now known to be his biological daughter, did have the opportunity to confront him.
"When I asked him, 'Why?', he said, 'It was in the business of making babies'," Hill recalled. "There wasn’t a lot of remorse; there wasn’t a lot of concern."
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