Jeanine Harvey and her husband John Harvey known as Mike had gifted their daughter Jessica Harvey Galloway, 29, a home DNA test kit on Christmas. However they were in for a shock since the test they used from Ancestry.com showed Irish, English, German, Welsh, French but no trace of Italian Sicilian. So this meant Jessica was not at all related to Mike who is of Italian descent.
The couple Jeanine and Mike had visited Dr. Nicholas J. Spirtos, at Summa Health System’s Akron Campus in Ohio around 30 years ago to help them become parents. The couple conceived a daughter with the help of IVF.
However, the DNA test indicated their daughter Jessica’s biological father was an unknown person to the family. For the mother it was like a trauma that was unimaginable. But she has been trying to remain strong for herself and her family to forget about it and move ahead in life.
Mike expressed that, “Learning that your entire reality isn’t what you believed it to be is hard to explain. It’s like waking up in someone else’s life.”
According to the lawsuit the Harvey’s have filed a case against the hospital and doctor for they became the victims of medical misconduct, carelessness and violation of contract.
Peiffer Wolf Carr Kane Conway and WiSE, LLP of Cleveland fought the case of the Harveys. Adam Wolf, one of the lawyers, explained that it is impossible to return back in time and change things. But what they could do was to make the hospital and doctor realize and accept their mistake so in future they repeat such carelessness. They do not want more people or families to be in the Harvey scenario.
Summa health stated that they are aware of the accusation that a patient in 1991 was artificially inseminated with the semen from a stranger and not that of her husband.
In their words, “We take this allegation seriously and understand the impact this has on the family. At this point, we have not met with the family or conducted testing of our own. Given the very limited information that we have and the amount of time that has passed, it remains our hope that the attorneys representing the family will work with us to make that next step a priority.”
Jessica was passionate about her genealogy and father’s Italian heritage. Despite being shocked by the new findings she has decided to move forward in her life by concentrating on her family no matter what the DNA or blood shows.
In the end family is family. Family doesn’t need DNA. Do you agree?
