Joseph and Jennifer Cartellone’s daughter bought them a DNA test for Christmas so they could learn more about their family tree.
But what they discovered would rock their entire family.
They learned that Mr. Cartellone was not the actual biological father of the couple’s daughter, Rebecca, who is now 24-years-old.
After the couple experienced fertility problems, both Mr. and Mrs. Cartellone from Delware, Ohio, made the choice to attempt to conceive through in-vitro fertilisation – or, IVF.
It proved to be a success and their daughter was born in 1994. But 25 years later and the family is now claiming the hospital and fertility clinic that treated them used another man’s sperm to create the embryo.
The Cartellone’s are now suing the Institute for Reproductive Health, The Christ Hospital and The Ovation Fertility of Cincinnati.
“When we looked at the results, what we immediately noticed was that that there were no traces of Italian DNA in [Rebecca’s results] at all. And her DNA matched my wife’s pretty closely,” Mr. Cartellone shared with Good Morning America.
“My disbelief turned quickly to shock and then ultimately to anger that this could possibly be the case.”
In a press conference, he shared:
“Never in my worst nightmare did I think that the Christmas gift of DNA testing for my family would unveil this kind of abuse of our trust by the very professionals from whom we sought help.”
“This has been extremely difficult for my family. I want to do whatever it takes to make sure no one else has to go through what we did.”
Rebeca Cartellone purchased the DNA test kit for her parents the previous Christmas in hopes of them discovering more information about their family tree. The results came back two months later with the horrifying news.
In the lawsuit, Mr. Cartellone as well as his daughter went through a separate and legal paternity test which confirmed that she is not his biological daughter.
The Christ Hospital Health Network, in a statement to Good Morning America, shared the following:
“While we are evaluating the allegations surrounding events alleged to have occurred in the early 1990s, it is The Christ Hospital Health Network’s practice to not publicly comment on pending litigation.”