At 30 years old, TikToker @panicatthegenepool found out that the dad she grew up with is not her biological father and that she’s donor-conceived. She made this discovery after taking a DNA test.
Back in August, she was at a family party with her best friend. They looked a lot alike, so everywhere they went, people always asked if they were related.
One of her cousins was talking about a DNA test they had done, and she and her best friend decided that it would be fun to do. But when her mom heard about their plan, she freaked out.
“My friend and I just thought she was having a Boomer reaction, so we forgot about it and moved on with our lives,” said @panicatthegenepool.
One day, her mom had a really bad fall and got seriously injured. She spent a week in the hospital and had to undergo two emergency surgeries.
Her mom had an upcoming appointment, but knew she wouldn’t be discharged from the hospital in time to make it, and she did not want to be charged a fee for failing to show up.
So, @panicatthegenepool went to the hospital to go through her mom’s phone and find the appointment she wanted to cancel. She sifted through the text messages, trying to find some kind of confirmation text because, of course, her mom had given her no other details or information.
The last person her mom had texted was her sister. Her sister had an adopted kid, who was @panicatthegenepool’s cousin. The entire family knew the cousin was adopted.
Her cousin had recently done a DNA test and found her biological mother and grandmother. So, that’s what @panicatthegenepool’s mom and her sister were texting about.
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But then, she found a text that heavily implied her dad was not her biological father. She immediately took pictures of the messages and sent them to her best friend.
She then went to work and had a breakdown in her manager’s office.
Later, she and her best friend ordered a DNA test. She also dug around her parents’ house for any information. They found a local fertility physician who had been accused of using his own DNA on his patients. She looked a lot like this doctor.
“I’m freaking out, thinking that my mom’s physician is my biological father,” she said.
“Then, I finally get my DNA results back. Turns out the person who I thought was my dad is definitely not my dad. My dad is a retired from the Navy oral surgeon, and his side gig is being a professional Santa, and I went from one dead sibling to seven.”
She confronted her parents about this on Halloween, and they’re all going through it together. She broke the news to the rest of her family on Thanksgiving.
By Emily Chan
Emily Chan is a writer who covers lifestyle and news content. She graduated from Michigan State University with a degree in... More about Emily Chan
