When animals combine

Just this year a story came to light on ABC concerning a woman who had finally regained custody of her 3 children and charges of welfare fraud against her were finally dismissed. I was informed by a student that she had lost her children after a DNA analysis prooved that they were not hers, and hence the fraud charges. I told her that DNA never lies, though the testing laboratory could've certainly made a mistake, but on all three children? Well, the student brought me the story, I checked out the sources, and yes, her DNA lied!

The ultimate cause of her dilemma prooved to be a rare blending of two sets of DNA into one body. Just like the reverse condition that results in two identical twins, where one egg splits into two after fertilization, in her case, her and her sister, while in the womb, fused into one human being. Her sister's DNA happened to form tissues of many of her major organs, including the ovaries. And this, of course, was why her own children tested negative for her DNA.

But even this was not enough to satisfy the judge hearing the case. So, to prove her veracity, the lady married again, became pregnant and gave birth to a 4th child for the benefit of the court. When her 4th child's DNA also tested negative, the judge dismissed the case against her.

Apparently there are only about 30 documented cases worldwide of this rare condition. It is called Mosaic or Chimera syndrome, from the Greek mythological creature, the Chimera.