Woman 'traumatised' after realising she unknowingly slept with her half-brother

16 February 2024 , 04:14

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Victoria realised her high school boyfriend was her half brother (Image: CNN)

A woman from Connecticut got the shock of her life when she found out she had accidentally slept with her half-brother. Her mom's fertility doctor had used his own sperm to have babies with his patients, and she didn't know. Victoria Hill, who is 39 years old, said it was very upsetting when she learned she had been with her half-brother from high school.

At least 23 people say they were born because of Dr. Burton Caldwell using his sperm without telling their parents. Victoria's mom, Maralee, was fooled by Caldwell, who said he would use sperm from an unknown medical student.

Victoria told CNN that she found out the man she thought was her dad wasn't really her biological father after doing a DNA test with 23andMe. She talked about this at a reunion for her high school 20 years later, and her old boyfriend saw that something similar had happened to him. He took the same DNA test and couldn't believe what he found out.

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Victoria Hill thought about taking the doctor to court (CNN)

Victoria got a text from her ex-boyfriend that said, 'You are my sister'. She said to the news, "It has me look back at my whole high school experience through a totally different lens. It tarnishes the whole thing," and added, "I'll just put it out there, I was intimate with my half brother."

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She also said that she went to elementary school with another one of her siblings and often stopped by a deli run by twins who turned out to be her family too. "I was traumatised by this," she admitted. "Now I'm looking at pictures of people thinking, well, if he could be my sibling, anybody could be my sibling."

Janine displays a selfie she took with Burton Caldwell, her biological dad (CNN)

Victoria considered taking the doctor to court, but was told that unclear fertility fraud laws meant she didn't have a strong case. There are no national laws on this issue and only 13 states offer protections.

Despite this, social worker Janine Pierson, one of Hill's half-sisters, is now taking action against the retired doctor. Janine thought she was an only child until she took a 23andMe test in 2022.

The message that turned Victoria's stomach (CNN)

"It was like my entire life just came to a screeching halt," she told CNN, revealing she also had to break the news to her mum. "We both just cried for a few minutes because it just felt like such a violation."

Janine even unknowingly crossed paths with a sibling at a summer camp, as shown in a photo. "Within 20 feet of one another, and we have no idea," she said. "It shouldn't just be, you know, the Wild West where these doctors can just do whatever it is that they want," she added.

She confronted her biological father, who has since retired from his practice. "He was not in any way apologetic," she said, adding that he did not deny using his own sperm when working in the 1980s at a New Haven clinic.

He confessed that he "never gave it the thought that he should have ... that there would be so many (children), and that it would have any kind of an impact on us," Janine shared. She felt their meeting was uncomfortable, with the now-retired doctor asking about her life and how smart she is.

She had complicated feelings, telling him, "I despise you, but at the same time, I'm grateful to be here." When CNN tried to get a comment, Caldwell's wife chose not to say anything for him.

It seems that over 30 doctors across the country have been caught or suspected of secretly using their own sperm to get patients pregnant, but those fighting for this issue think the real number might be as high as 80.

Mataeo Smith