We have all felt a knot in our stomach while receiving a diagnosis, especially after we’ve googled our symptoms the previous night. The experience is sometimes unnerving and for some, their world comes crashing down with that one diagnosis. The same happened with Richard Mason when he found out he was suffering from cystic fibrosis. At 55, Richard was a father to three sons and had been separated from his wife of over 20 years. The news of his medical condition left him questioning his marriage with ex-wife, Kate. Had he been living a lie or was there some other explanation to the truth staring in Richard’s face?
A Businessman, A Family Man
Richard Mason was a successful businessman in the UK. One of his major ventures was co-founding MoneySupermarket.com, a popular website that people frequently use to compare prices while shopping. Richard met Kate while working at a bank and fell in love with her. The two got married soon and together they raised three lovely boys. With hard work and the love of his family, Richard created a beautiful life for his family. He did not expect everything to collapse like this without warning.
The Right Time To Separate
The couple had three sons together, Will and twins Ed and Joel. When Will turned 23 and the twins were 19 years old, Kate and Richard took the tough decision to separate. The couple knew that the marriage wasn’t working and it would be best for them to go their separate ways. So once all their sons were over 18, they officially got a divorce in 2008. Even though they no longer lived together as a family, both of them were equally close to their sons.
Not Enough Alimony
The couple had decided mutually to end their marriage but once the proceedings began, Kate started pushing to make Richard pay her more money. This was strange since they had agreed in the financial settlement that Richard would pay her $5 million lump sum. The fee for the kids’ private schooling was also included in the $5 million that Kate received. Richard was confused as to why Kate was asking for more money and why she “hounded me for years… and tried to make me pay more.” The confusion only increased from here.
The Truth Is Revealed
The couple separated in 2008 but it took Richard 8 years to figure out the truth about his married life. Richard had already understood that Kate was after his money but he realized that there was a lot that his ex-wife had been hiding from him. The worst part of this earth-shattering reality was that his wife was not accepting her wrong doings. It wasn’t his ex-wife who told him the biggest truth of his life but a doctor. Richard had no clue his wife had been deceiving him for years.
The Questionable Diagnosis
Richard was very conscious about his health at 55. He would go for health check-ups regularly and expected to be in and out of the doctor’s office in no time. But this time was different, the doctor decided to do some additional tests while he was in there. He was horrified when the doctor revealed that he had cystic fibrosis. While stepping into his office, Richard had not expected to walk out with such news but his day of shocks had just begun. There was more news to be delivered, worse than the diagnosis.
A Genetic Disease
It was hard for Richard to take in the news of his diagnosis. This was not common cold that he was dealing with. It was cystic fibrosis which causes frequent lung infections that lead to damaged lung with decreased capacity. In short this disease could make it hard to breathe. But the diagnosis was even harder for Richard since his sister was also diagnosed with cystic fibrosis. The disease was genetic and that is what frightened him the most. What if he had passed it on to his three sons?
Fearing For His Sons
Sitting in the doctor’s office, Richard was scared for the well being of his sons. He was really worried that he may have passed on the genes of cystic fibrosis to his sons and they may have to face the same diagnosis. All this information about the disease was hard to process and he had a lot of questions. But the primary concern he had was the disease being genetic. Of all the questions he could have asked the doctor, he chose to ask about his children. He was not expecting the answer he received.
More Truths To Uncover
Richard was already having a hard time dealing with the diagnosis but there was more news from the doctor. “When the discussion then turned to fertility, he said, ‘Look, yourself and Emma (Richard’s second wife) you know- you’re gonna have difficulty having children because you are, as a man with cystic fibrosis, infertile.'” Richard couldn’t believe his ears and questioned the diagnosis. After all, he had three healthy children which meant he wasn’t infertile and that, he didn’t have cystic fibrosis. Was it that simple?
A Wrong Diagnosis
Richard came out of his thoughts and said, “You must have the diagnosis wrong because I’ve already got three boys.” It was clear to him that the doctor had made a mistake but will the doctor accept it? In an interview later, he recalled, “I actually felt pleased to be able to tell him this, because in my mind it proved his diagnosis was wrong.” Richard’s statement left the doctor in an uncomfortable situation. When he looked at him with wide eyes, Richard knew exactly what was coming at him.
Someone Is Lying
As the doctor’s eyes bore into him, Richard understood what he was going to say. The diagnosis was right, it was his wife who was feeding him lies all these years. Richard’s world was crashing like a big wave sweeps over a sandcastle. 55-year-old Richard got two of the most unsettling news in one day. He was suffering from a worrisome disease and his children were biologically not his. The possibility of his wife lying to him throughout their marriage was wrecking Richard on the inside but there was a long road ahead of him.
Ignorance Is Bliss
As Richard Mason sunk back into his chair at the doctor’s office, he felt his shoulders weighing down. Flashbacks from his previous marriage were troubling him and he felt as if his mind would explode. He couldn’t take his mind off the news he had just received. He was deep in thought, recalling all the times Kate could have been lying to him and visiting another man. His mind wandered back to the red flags he brushed aside without so much of a thought. How could she do this to him?
Revisiting The Red Flags
Before Richard stepped into the doctor’s office that day for his check-up, he had never considered that his ex-wife had ever had an affair behind his back. But now looking back he realized that he may have overlooked it completely. He was a hard-working businessman who would often work late nights and he understood his wife’s work commitments equally. But now he was beginning to question every move of her. Like that one time she stayed in London during a work trip after she said that her flight was cancelled. Was Kate lying about it?
No Similarities With The Twins
Up until Richard’s diagnosis, he had never considered the twins not being his biological children. But now that he was being told that he was infertile, multiple thoughts began crowding his head. He recalled after the twins were born, he was often told how they resembled Kate but not him. He never gave much thought to such statements but now everything seemed to be telling him the same truth. Thinking about his children and their birth, Richard remembered an odd thing Kate had done before Will was born.
Kate’s Change Of Faith
The couple had been married for 7 years when Kate fell pregnant with their first child. Since both Kate and Richard were Christians, he had assumed that their kids would be baptized and learn about Christianity. But instead, Kate met with a Rabbi and taught her kids about Judaism even though she hadn’t mentioned her interest in the religion all these years. While trying to accept his diagnosis, Richard wondered how he let it all go when all three children were given Jewish middle names!
Looking For A Connection
All the strange details from the past were jumping at Richard. There was a possibility that the children were not his and he had to get to the bottom of it. He wondered who the kids looked like other than Kate. The faces of the twins were floating in front of his eyes. He recognized the boys shared similarities with someone he knew but just couldn’t put a figure on it. One thought was troubling Richard- was Kate having an affair with another man all these years?
Some Suspicion Arose
It took some time for Richard to process all the information but he needed to calm down if he wanted to reach a sensible conclusion. Suddenly the first obvious scenario was as clear as day. Perhaps his wife was cheating on him during her work trips when she was away. That would mean that she was having an affair with someone she worked with. Richard recalled a colleague of Kate that the twins resembled in appearance. He may have ruled him out instantly but he realized the man in question was Jewish.
An Email To Confess
Richard was no longer married to Kate and didn’t want to barge into her house to demand answers. He instead wrote her an email explaining everything and asking for an explanation. Richard wrote, “I went to the Liverpool Chest Hospital today… to finally receive my diagnosis that I have cystic fibrosis. In their experience, they have never had a male with CF who has fathered a child let alone three. It is 98% certain that I am not the father of any children.” He waited for a reply that never came.
Email Round Two
Receiving an unexpected diagnosis was already hard but now Richard was wondering if his kids were biologically not his. Richard needed the answers and sent another email to Kate. This time Richard wrote, “I was hoping that you could relieve me of further indignity by letting me know now if I am the father. I am happy to go along with your advice as to how best tell the boys. But, if you force me to go through these extra tests then I shall be telling them as I wish.” This time Kate replied.
Standing In Denial
Richard’s second mail jerked Kate off from her slumber and she replied. She was certain that the boys were biologically Richard’s and there was no room for doubt. But how much of it did he believe? As she wrote in her mail, “Of course the boys are yours, no matter what the science might suggest.” Richard didn’t feel any conviction in her message whatsoever so he decided to go for the further tests and talk to the boys. He wasn’t letting her off the hook just yet.
A Talk With The Eldest
Richard decided to contact his eldest son, Will, a 23-year-old young man. Richard was certain he wasn’t Will’s father but he needed a DNA test to be sure. Moreover, he had to tell his children about his diagnosis of cystic fibrosis. Richard recalled that conversation with Will, “I told him I’d just been diagnosed with cystic fibrosis, which he took surprisingly calmly.” With one thing out of the way, now he had to break the second news.
Confessing His Suspicions
The next part of the conversation with his eldest son was not going to be easy. But with all of his strength, Richard began, ‘Yes but one of the things that I’ve just been told is that it is extremely unlikely that someone with cystic fibrosis could father a child.'” Richard wondered if the young lad in front of him had taken the hint or if he will have to spell it out. Will saved his father the embarrassment and said, ‘I’m already ahead of you, Dad. You’re saying you’re probably not my father?'”
An Emotional Moment
Richard had played this conversation in his head before talking to his son but actually hearing him say it out loud was tough on him. As he later recalled, “It would have been the hardest sentence to utter, and he did it for me”. Will had made it clear that he didn’t care if they were biologically related or not, he was his ‘dad’ and that was it. The clear expression of this 23-year-old made Richard very emotional. But at the same time he was angry at how life was playing him.
Reality Sets In
For 23 years Richard had believed that he had children, and now at the age of 55 he was being told that it was all a lie. After all these years of believing that he had three sons to carry his bloodline, Richard was faced a painful reality. At the same time he also realized that being diagnosed with cystic fibrosis means that he might not have as much time as he thought. Having to deal with two of the most shocking truths of his life was not easy for Richard.
Son Confronts His Mom
After speaking to his dad, Will told his mother everything he had learned from Richard and asked Kate if he really was his father. Although Kate had easily lied to Richard, she couldn’t keep up her façade in front of her son. Kate confessed that she had been having an affair with another man that started during her marriage to Richard. She also revealed that Will’s ‘dad’ might not be his biological father. Richard’s suspicion turned out to be true but one question still loomed- who was this other man?
Secret For 20 Years
Kate had finally admitted that she was seeing another man behind Richard’s back. The affair started after she got married but who was this mystery person? Kate admitted that she met him just like she had met Richard- working at a bank. Richard was right again, his ex-wife was definitely having an affair with someone she worked with at Barclays Bank. She had kept this secret for two decades and now the truth was resurfacing but will she let that happen?
He Is Not The Father
Kate admitted that she had an affair with her colleague but did that mean he was the father of all her sons? Kate refused to accept the allegations and insisted that Richard was in fact the father of all three boys. Needless to say Richard didn’t buy it and decided to undergo all the tests. His wife had been living a double life all through their marriage and had him believe that he fathered three sons. But he had had enough, it was time to unveil the complete truth.
The Tests Begin
Several tests were needed to sort everything out and Richard was ready for everything at this point. Under the guidance of Roger Terrell, a paternity fraud expert, Richard first underwent tests to check his fertility levels. As he had feared, the results confirmed that he was unable to father children. This result wasn’t enough, Richard needed DNA samples from the boys to match with his DNA to get the ultimate proof. It was not going to be easy for anyone but the brave twins decided to take the test first.
Worst Fears Coming True
The twins, Ed and Joel took the DNA test first even though they knew the results could be shattering. But the boys were adamant and hoped their bravery would tip the results in the favor of Richard being their biological father! Unfortunately, that did not happen. This was the ultimate proof of Kate’s double life. Not only had she been hiding a long term affair, she was also lying to Richard about being the biological father of the twins. But was she lying about Will too?
Saying No To The Test
Will had heard the results of his brothers but when Richard and the paternity fraud expert talked to Will about taking the test, he straight up refused. In Will’s words, “As far as I’m concerned, he’s my Dad and that’s that.” Richard knew that the young man he raised as his eldest son was deeply attached to him. This made him happy for raising such a lovely son but also angry at the circumstances. Life was testing him and so was Will.
Conditions Apply
Richard understood Will’s apprehension and didn’t try to convince him. He would have had a better case against Kate if he had Will’s DNA test results but that was not going to happen. As Richard later recalled of his conversation with Will, “My eldest son told me, ‘Dad, if you sue Mum, I will never speak to you again.'” His love for Will was strong but so was his hurt and he ended up filing a lawsuit against Kate. Will stayed true to his words and didn’t speak to his dad again.
Twins Stand In Support
Will was angry with Richard for filing a lawsuit against his mother but the twins could look past it. They have been in contact with their dad and love him unconditionally even though he is not their biological father. Richard recalled a letter they wrote him, “Dad, as I explained from the beginning you would never not be dad to me regardless of all of this.” He continued, “Of course I’ll stay in touch, that will never change… I’m always here for you too and you will always be Dad. Love you.”
Winning The Fraud Case
Eventually Richard won the paternal fraud lawsuit against Kate, who was ordered to pay him $300,000. It was decided that the father of the children will not be revealed even though Richard felt that the boys have a right to know about their father. Richard had been through a lot. Had it not been for the DNA test, he would still have been looking for answers. This goes to say that DNA testing is powerful and Richard is not the only person whose life was changed with it. One man underwent a DNA test for a different reason but his result left the scientists baffled. Read on to know his story.
A Life Threatening Diagnosis
2015 was turning out to be a harsh year for Chris Long. He was diagnosed with acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndrome. The father of two had abnormal growth in his bone marrow which infected his blood cells. All this only meant one thing to the Nevada resident- blood cancer. A quick search showed Chris that people suffering from acute myeloid leukemia (AML) have a 24% chance of survival. Combining chemotherapy with a bone marrow transplant was the only treatment. Chris studied his options but he knew that his future was bleak.
Understanding The Procedure
Treatment was possible for Chris, he was supposed to have a bone marrow transplant to replace cancerous bone marrow with a healthy one. Since the bone marrow creates red and white blood cells, the patient needs to be operated before the blood turns unhealthy. It wasn’t going to be easy since Chris needed to undergo chemo and destroy the harmful cells before the transplant. Chris would then have to find a donor whose cells wouldn’t attack his body. It could have been an impossible task, but thankfully, there are many donors around the world.
Harder Than It Sounds
Even though there are plenty of donors around, finding a bone marrow donor is much harder than finding a blood donor. Doctors have to examine the donor’s human leukocyte antigen (HLA) which is a protein used by the immune system to know which cells are yours and which are not. A person has six different HLA markers. Doctors can pinpoint your HLA after doing a DNA test on a sample taken from the inside of your cheek. If all the six markers line up, the donor’s cells are not ‘foreign’ to the patient’s immune system.
An Unusual Offer
Chris found his donor very easily, an anonymous man from Germany. The two people were world apart since at the time Chris was working as an information technology employee at the Washoe County sheriff’s department in Reno, Nevada. But this wasn’t the strangest thing. Soon Chris’s diagnosis became the talk of the office. When the news reached the forensic scientists of Washoe County, they took an interest in his case. Chris was presented with a strange opportunity that would later challenge the scientific community.
An Experiment Of A Lifetime
The crime lab at Washoe County was buzzing with Chris’s story and soon it reached the ears of Renee Romero. She had been wondering about a strange possibility- would a bone marrow transplant change Chris’s DNA? Renee asked Chris to take part in this experiment of a lifetime. As she later recalled the conversation, “We need to swab the heck out of you before you have this procedure to see how this DNA takes over your body.”
A Human Guinea Pig
Chris agreed to Renee’s proposal since he felt it would be a distraction from his scary diagnosis but he wasn’t sure if they would get anything out of it. He didn’t know if he would survive long enough for the experiment to take shape. Even with doubts mounting up, Chris was fine to become a human guinea pig. He allowed the scientists to take his DNA samples before he underwent surgery. The scientists would monitor his DNA through remission and recovery hoping to find some answers.
Faster Than Expected
After the bone marrow transplant, Chris spent four years in remission. The scientists monitored him during this process hoping to record any small change in DNA. They didn’t have to wait long because only 4 months in, the donor’s DNA had changed Chris’s genetic code in his blood. This was already a surprise for them but they needed more data. A swab of Chris’s cheek, lip and tongue revealed that the DNA in these areas was also replayed by the donor’s. The DNA swapping was happening at a much faster rate than expected. Was this normal?
Transforming Into Another Person
The scientists were monitoring Chris throughout remission. But only after 4 months, the DNA in his arms, legs, body and face had been replaced with the donor’s. But these findings weren’t uniform throughout his body. Some swabs contained DNA both from Chris and his donor. Another surprising find was that Chris’s semen had his donor’s DNA. At the end of 4 years, every area of his body had his donor’s DNA except for his chest and head hair. Was Chris turning into another person?
There Is No Chris
Washoe County sheriff’s office was in a state of shock, the findings had left the scientists in deep thought. None of them had expected Chris’s DNA to be taken over by his donor to this extent. As Darby Steinmetz, the criminalists said, “We were kind of shocked that Chris was no longer present at all.” Chris was also shocked but stayed positive about it. As he said in an interview with New York Times, “I thought it was pretty incredible that I can disappear and someone else can appear.” But was it all fun and games?
A Real-Life Chimera
Chris had pretty much disappeared from his own body and turned into a human chimera. The term, Chimera has been derived the monster in Greek mythology who was a hybrid of three animals. In the scientific world, chimera is the term used for people with two sets of DNA. Forensic scientists had known about chimerism for years. There were some procedures that caused it but up until Chris’s study, nobody had researched where the donor’s DNA replaces the patient’s. So when it was found that 99% of DNA in Chris’s body was replaced, scientists were raising questions.
Different From Previous Studies
It wasn’t like Chris was the first person to be tested for chimerism from bone marrow transplant, this had been done before. In 2004, research in Bone Marrow Transplantation stated that some of the patient’s blood DNA was replaced after a bone marrow transplant. In fact, temporary DNA replacement occurred in the patient’s blood after blood transplants. However, these studies were focused on DNA changes in blood. Before Chris’s transformation was monitored, scientists had not studied how DNA was replaced in the rest of the patient’s body. Chris’s case had exceeded everyone’s expectations and raised some concern.
Still The Same Person
Chris’s case was the first that shed light on DNA replacement to this large extent in the patient’s body. The results of the study baffled many scientists and left one big question to be answered- Will Chris remain the same person with someone else’s DNA? Stanford University’s blood and marrow transplant professional, Dr. Andrew Rezvani had the answer. In an interview with Independent he said, “Their brain and their personality should remain the same”. He explained that if Chris’s donor was a female, he wouldn’t have converted into a female himself. He simply stated, “It doesn’t matter”.
One Issue Persists
Medical doctors understand DNA change in transplant cases but don’t see any issue. According to them, as long as the transplant is successful the DNA change doesn’t create any medical problems. The patient’s medical history and mind will remain unchanged so no issue can arise. That wasn’t the thinking of Renee and her colleagues since DNA change had some major implications for them. Being forensic scientists, they were viewing Chris’s case from the perspective of combating crime. They understood that this could be a life and death situation for someone.
Compromised Criminal Investigations
From a forensic scientist’s point of view, DNA change could create major problems. While hunting down criminals, the investigators rely on DNA swabs to lead to one person. But with Chris’s case, the possibility of one DNA sample leading to two people emerged. What will be the repercussions of this? Brittney Chilton, a criminalist of the forensic science division says that this DNA change could potentially mislead investigators. This mix-up could falsely convict an innocent person and let go the guilty party. The scenario is a scary one since it has happened before!
A Previous Mix-Up
In 2004, criminal investigators uploaded a DNA sample to the database to catch the criminal. An issue arose when it was found that the person was in jail at the time of the crime. But how was this possible? The investigators found out that the criminal’s brother had received a bone marrow transplant. He was convicted for the crime and in 2005, crime detection scientist Abirami Chidambaram presented the case. This was exactly the dilemma that Chilton was talking about. DNA replacement was a threat to criminal investigations but was that the only issue?
Double Trouble
Chilton has expressed more concerns about the chimeras that make the job of medical experts even tougher. Back in 2008, research scholar Yongbin Eom tried to identify a victim of a car accident in Seoul but encountered a major discrepancy. The DNA sample showed it was a female but the body in front of Yongbin was of a male. Upon inspection it was found that the victim had received bone marrow from his daughter. The victim was a chimera with two sets of DNA that confused the research scholar. Chilton agreed that chimerism can prevent investigators from identifying a body.
Never Noticed Before
Thousands of people undergo bone marrow transplant every year. Patients suffering from leukemia, sickle cell anemia, and lymphoma are often suggested to have this surgery. If so many people are already having a bone marrow transplant then anomalies in the DNA must have existed before Chris then how did nobody notice it? Criminal investigations have been interrupted before because of bone marrow transplants. But Renee’s study was the first in-depth research to study DNA changes in the patient. Her team presented Chris’s case study at the international forensic science conference in September of 2019 where it gained tremendous appreciation.
Chimeras Are Very Common
Having two sets of DNA is far more common than one may believe. Studies have suggested that chimerism may occur in 21% of triplets and 8% of twins. This study alone doesn’t explain how common the condition is. Most people won’t take a DNA test to confirm their relation to their biological family. There may be more chimeras but since nobody gets tested, they remain unknown. Since chimersim doesn’t affect the life of a person, not much importance is given to its possibility. The only time chimerism becomes an issue is when someone’s life is on the line.
Chimeras May Lose Children
Back in 2022, Lydia Fairchild applied for child support but DNA tests showed that she wasn’t the mother of those kids. She fell pregnant during the case and the child in her womb also had a different DNA. The judge arranged for a witness to be present at the birth of Lydia’s third child. Even then, the courts held her DNA tests results above all. Thankfully, it was found that she was a chimera and had two different DNAs in her body otherwise she could have lost her children.
Questioning The Offspring
Chris Long’s case had raised more questions than answers and left Renee wondering if a patient’s DNA changes and they have a child, will they be creating someone else’s child? Renee needed the answer so she surveyed three bone marrow transplant specialists. The experts were intrigued by Renee’s question but they didn’t feel that a child’s DNA would change. Dr. Rezvani said, “There shouldn’t be any way for someone to father someone else’s child”. The answer lies in the fact that a donor’s blood cells can’t create new sperm cells.
Long’s Case Was Different
As per medical professionals, the DNA in sperms cannot be affected by transplants. So why did this statement not hold true for Chris? The answer came from Mehrdad Abedi, the doctor who treated Chris. The reason that Long’s semen changed is because of his vasectomy. Since the sperm couldn’t move, it changed DNA. This scenario raises another question- had Chris not had a vasectomy, could his result be any different? Scientists couldn’t test it so we have no way of knowing.
Chimeras Can Occur Naturally
After Chris’s case came to light, many people assumed that chimeras result only from bone marrow transplants but that’s not true. One example is the “vanishing twin” where one embryo dies early on and the other embryo ends up absorbing the DNA of its twin. So the surviving embryo has two sets of DNA. Another example of chimeras is seen in women, when they sometimes retain some DNA from their baby during pregnancy. This is called microchimerism and occurs in around 63% of women. As per The New York Times, microchimerism is “very common, if not universal.”
Difficult To Identify
Back in 2015, a couple found that their newborn’s DNA didn’t match theirs which left them wondering if the clinic had used the wrong sperm. Stanford geneticist Barry Starr recommended them to take a genetic test. Interestingly, the results showed that the father was actually the child’s uncle. This revelation might have complicated things for the family but they understood that the culprit here was chimerism. As Charles Boklage put it, “Human chimerism is very common, but exquisitely difficult to identify, coming to light almost exclusively by accidents like this”.
Impact On Future
DNA tests were considered infallible in the courtroom but Chris’s case changed people’s opinion about DNA tests. The study on case showed that common conditions make DNA test results less foolproof than we assumed. Chimeras may not encounter any issue with health or medicine but they are creating loopholes in the forensic science. Criminal investigators often rely on DNA tests to catch the perpetrator. But with chimera cases coming to light, they may have to change the way they analyze DNA evidence.
A Long Life For Chris Long
Chris recovered from AML and is now leading a healthy life. He is not experiencing any issues as a chimera and has planned to travel to Germany to meet his donor and thank him for saving his life. Chris’s case has shed light on the complications that arise from chimeras and Renee wants to continue her research on the subject, specifically how it affects a patient’s offspring. We hope more facts emerge from her research that can fill in the blanks that medical science has currently left.
