A woman from Yonkers, New York, is suing two health labs after she terminated her pregnancy based on incorrect paternity test results. The woman, who wishes to remain anonymous, alleges that the error by Winn Health Labs in the Bronx and Ohio-based DNA Diagnostics Center led to the loss of her child and the end of her long-term relationship.
The 28-year-old administrative assistant and her then-fiancé had been trying to conceive when they briefly separated last summer due to the stress of their unsuccessful attempts. During this break, the woman had a protected sexual encounter with another man. After reconciling with her fiancé, she discovered she was pregnant in August and was confident her fiancé was the father.
However, to be certain and to avoid revealing her brief affair to her fiancé, the woman decided to have a paternity test with the other man. The first two tests, costing over $1,000, were inconclusive. They then turned to DNA Diagnostics Center, a company that claims to be “world leaders in DNA testing” and has conducted over 20 million tests.
In October, the woman and the other man visited a Winn Health Labs facility in the Bronx to provide samples for the test. While waiting for the results, the woman was so confident that her fiancé was the father that she hosted a gender-reveal party. However, she was shocked when the lab informed her on Halloween that the other man was the father with “99.99% certainty.”
At nearly 20 weeks pregnant, the woman was forced to reveal the situation to her fiancé and decided to terminate the pregnancy. During the two-day procedure, she had a change of heart, but it was too late to save the baby.
On Valentine’s Day, DNA Diagnostics Center informed the woman that the previous results were incorrect due to an “IT error.” The man she had a brief encounter with was not the father of the child she had aborted. The woman and her fiancé ended their relationship shortly after.
The woman’s lawyer, Craig Phemister, questions why it took four months for the lab to correct the error. The woman is now in therapy and is seeking accountability from the labs involved.