Chapter 9 - THE GENETICISTWe hired an independent forensic genetic counselor rather than interpreting lab percentages ourselves.
Dr. Laura Mendel.
She reviewed both reports.
The current Daniel-Sophie test had documented identity and collection.
Strong.
The older Robert-Sophie report had weaker chain of custody.
Samples were apparently mailed privately.
No witnessed collection.
Robert had already been dead by the report date.
That raised an obvious question.
Where did his sample come from?
The paperwork said:
Stored consumer DNA profile / reference specimen supplied by client.
Dr. Mendel said:
“This report may reflect a real analysis, but I cannot authenticate that the reference sample belonged to Robert Dawson.”
Daniel asked:
“If it did?”
“Then an exclusion of Robert as Sophie’s biological paternal grandfather, combined with a highly reliable finding that you are Sophie’s biological father, would raise a strong question about whether Robert was your biological father.”
Daniel went silent.
His entire identity had been built around Robert.
Occupation.
Baseball team.
Woodworking.
Mannerisms.
Even the name Sophie almost got:
Roberta.
Fortunately I stopped that.
Daniel asked:
“Could my mother have misunderstood the result?”
Dr. Mendel answered:
“Yes.”
Then:
“Could she have understood it perfectly?”
May you like
“Yes.”
That was the question.
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