A broken marriage is not necessarily a tragedy for every couple. Sometimes two people, who were right for each other at one point in their lives, drift apart. And instead of blaming each other for their unhappiness, they can mutually decide to end it. However, despite the mutual decision, separation is quite a significant change. From spending every minute of every day together, to not seeing each other at all. It is never going to be easy or pain-free.
Lydia Fairchild, a 26-year-old mother of three, is in the process of a painful divorce. The divorce meant that she is going to have to take care of three children alone. In an attempt to seek help, Lydia attempted to gain government funding for her kids. But when the government got the hang of the situation, she was not only denied the funding but also became the subject of a criminal investigation.
Exhaustion. It hit her even before she opened her eyes. Lydia feels the sunshine blinding her eyes since she forgot to close the blinds last night. She squints at the window, slowly letting her eyes get used to the light around her. She sat up in her bed as the events from last night slowly caught up to her. The screaming and the yelling echoed in her head.
Jamie and Lydia have had fights before too, but this time something was different. Something felt very...final about this fight. Like something between them broke for good and it cannot be repaired now. The gap is too wide and nothing can bridge it. She was tired of fixing things only to go back to square one all over again. Just when she thought they were making progress, he would prove her wrong.
She looked over to Jamie's side of the bed, it was empty. He packed his stuff and left last night. She assumed he will be back in the morning like he always was but this time, he didn't show up. Not till noon, not till the evening either. When Lydia went to bed alone that night, she knew her marriage is over.
A week after Jamie left, Lydia woke up to a set of papers she had received in her mailbox. They were divorce papers from Jamie. Despite the fact that she saw this coming, Lydia felt her heart drop in her stomach. "That was quick", she thought. She looked at the picture of her little family on the shelf and fought back tears.
As unbelievable as it sounds, Lydia and Jamie were happy with each other, once upon a time. Jamie was the love of her life and they had planned their future together. But things took a drastic turn when Lydia got pregnant for the first time. Jamie was not ready to be a father. But after the child was born, Lydia assumed Jamie will feel ready. Unfortunately, she couldn't have been more wrong.
So ultimately, when Lydia gave birth to the second child and was pregnant with the third, Jamie wanted to get out. It got too much for him. Their fights became more frequent than before, he took out his frustration about other things on Lydia. Despite the fights, she never expected him to actually walkout. But he did, and now she is alone with her kids.
She knew it's for the best. If two people cannot be happy together, they should let go and move on. But things were slightly more complicated in this case. It wasn't just about the couple, they also had to think about their kids. Jamie will not fight for custody, Lydia knew for sure. But this meant that she will be a single mom with three children and no money.
Jamie and Lydia's combined income would barely suffice for their two kids. Now, with only Lydia's income and not two but soon to be three children, she knew it won't work out. She needed a way to make their livelihoods and future secure. And stretching the months with just her income will not be enough.
Lydia wanted her kids to have everything they wanted and didn't want them to compromise on anything, especially not the quality of their lives. So she began to look for ideas which will help her in taking care of her kids without depriving them of anything. She couldn't pick up extra jobs because working full time with two kids and a newborn will be impossible.
Lydia finally came up with the idea of seeking government funding. In order to take care of her children, she could reach out to the Government for financial aid. This would not only help her pay for their education but also look after their everyday needs. She discussed with her mother once, who encouraged her to go ahead with this.
To apply for financial aid, there was a series of routine check-ups and procedures that the parent had to undertake to prove their eligibility to apply for financial aid. One of these procedures included a DNA test that both the parents have to take to prove their link to the kids they want the financial aid for.
Both Jamie and Lydia had to undergo the test. Jamie was surprisingly very cooperative about the whole thing. Once the samples were taken and sent off, all they had to do was wait for the reports. Without it, they wouldn't be able to proceed further with the process of applying for financial aid.
Jamie's test results came back first. And the reports were all normal. Not that anyone had a doubt before. But Lydia's reports were taking longer than necessary. She didn't hear back from them the same day when Jamie's reports came back. The delay didn't send any red flags in Lydia's mind. But the hold up was getting her slightly anxious.
Lydia was done with all the formalities related to the funding assistance. Yet the only thing remaining was the result of the DNA test. Lydia couldn't understand why it is taking so long. That evening, when Lydia was busy making dinner, she received a phone call that requested her presence at the office of the Washington State prosecutor to go over the results of her DNA test.
Lydia realized this cannot mean good news. Why would they ask her to come down and 'discuss' the results with the officials? Is there any discrepancy in the report? A thousand questions flooded her head. She assumed she might be getting unnecessarily paranoid. But she knew, this kind of delay and now asking her to come down to the office, none of it is normal.
Lydia was on her way to the prosecutor's office. She knew she was being paranoid for no reason. This will just be a routine procedure and will be over before she knows it. It is just some formality with a social worker. But when she reached the office and sat across the representative, something about his demeanor said otherwise.
As soon as Lydia sat down, the representative shut the door and sat down across from her. Lydia could sense the tense ambiance of the room. The representative began to ask Lydia a bunch of questions about her identity. He told her to speak the truth and come clean instead of wasting everyone's time. Lydia's eyes went wide at the absurdity of the whole situation.
Lydia came to know that the reason she was being interrogated was that nobody believed that she is the mother of her children. Apparently, the DNA test results proved Jamie as the father of the kids but did not prove Lydia to be their biological mother. Lydia could not understand how something like this is happening.
Lydia tried to reason with them, suggesting that there might have been a mixup at the lab. But they were not ready to listen to anything or anyone. They simply stated that DNA reports do not lie. Lydia tried to convince them that there must have been a mistake at the lab. She requested them to retake the test but their minds could not be changed. As far as they knew, Lydia was not the mother.
Since Lydia's reports showed that she is not the biological mother of her children, the next step in the investigation was to call Jamie and interrogate him. Jamie was accused of having children with another woman. Just like Lydia, Jamie too talked about reports having discrepancies and requested another test but the officials did not allow it.
Lydia decided to reach out to her doctor who was present during both her pregnancies and childbirth. The doctor assured her that he is ready to testify in the court for her if it comes down to that. As thankful as she felt, she knew getting his statement will not be fruitful unless it is noted down in the court by the jury. So now all she needed to do was get a lawyer.
Lydia's search for a lawyer ended when she met Alan Tindell. He was known to be brilliant amongst his colleagues. However, gaining his trust was not easy. Given the unusual circumstances, even the lawyer was doubtful of Lydia's intentions. But when he saw the honesty in her eyes, he agreed to fight her case and ensure she does not lose her kids during the process.
Lydia received a summons the next morning in her mail, which confirmed the start of her trial in the court. She could not believe this is happening to her. Why is she being asked to prove that she gave birth to her children? The height of absurdity was absolutely baffling. Going through the divorce was hard on her anyway, and now she had to carry the burden of this trial alone.
Lydia didn't want to imagine a life without her kids. It was so frustrating, to tell the truth, and have nobody believe you. She spent the whole day holding back her tears but when it was time for dinner and she saw her kids rush downstairs, she couldn't hold them back any longer. She broke down on the floor.
Her kids rushed to hug her, confused about what is happening. Lydia didn't tell them anything because she didn't want to put that kind of pressure on them. She wanted to shield them from the harsh possibilities of living without each other. She hugged them tightly and promised to herself she will do everything in her power to keep her family together.
With the birth of her third kid, the judges in the court passed an order to take blood samples from the infant. The birth of her third child was far from being a happy memory for Lydia. She felt like a criminal who was under constant observation of the investigators, waiting for her to make one mistake and prove them right.
Despite witnessing the birth of her third child, the court went and believed the test results which ones again proved that the newborn was not related to Lydia. Lydia's frustration knew no bounds. But there was one thing which exceeded her frustration, it was fear. The fear of losing her kids. She knew she had to figure out something fast if she wants to hold onto her kids.
Desperate for some answers, Lydia went through more tests. Anything which could prove her children belong to her. She gave tissue samples from her skin, hair, and other organs. Yet, nothing seemed to match her kids' DNA. Lydia struggled to remain strong after facing defeat over and over again. She knew there has to be some way this could be sorted.
To help out Lydia, her mother came forward and offered to get her DNA test done. To their relief, the DNAs between the kids and their grandmother matched! This proved that there has to be some link between Lydia and her kids that the tests are unable to detect. For Lydia, this proof was enough to convince the courts but her lawyer managed to find something even more remarkable.
Alan found an article about a 52-year-old woman named Karen Keegan who lives across the country in Boston. The woman went through a genetic test in search of a kidney donor, however, the results of the test showed that she is not related to two of her children but is related to the third child. This confusion pushed the doctors to do further research about the case and what they discovered made it to the New England Journal Of Medicine.
Lydia's lawyer, Alan, noticed the similarities between Lydia and Karen's case. So if his theory is correct, there is one way to prove Lydia's connection with her kids and that is through a cervical screening test. Even though Lydia was exhausted by the thought of going through any more tests, Alan assured her it is the only option they have left. And if he is correct, they are on their way to win this case.
At the very least, Lydia was able to provide proof for a direct connection between her mother and her children. So she was hoping if the results are negative again, she will at least have this proof. But to her relief, for the first time, the results from the test came back positive, showing a direct undeniable link between Lydia and all three of her children.
Lydia and Karen both have a rare case of a genetic syndrome called Chimerism. Chimerism is a condition which initiates right from the womb when a baby is conceived. In the womb, people with Chimerism begin as twins. But during the early stages of pregnancy, one of the twins absorbs the other. This happens way before a woman even comes to now she has twins in her womb.
The cells of the absorbed twin do not vanish. Rather, they become a mass in one specific part of the surviving twin's body. In Lydia's case, the DNA of her twin was amassed in her womb. This is the reason why her children did not match her DNA. Chimerism has no more than 40 documented cases across the globe which makes this condition extremely rare.
After 16 months of pain and tears, Lydia Fairchild's legal case was at last dismissed. The judge apologized to Lydia for doubting her intentions and the relationship she shares with her children. She will be granted the financial assistance she requested for her three children, who happened to share the DNA of her long lost twin.
The word Chimerism was originated from Chimera, a mythological Greek monster. It consisted of a lion, a goat, and a serpent. It is believed that the creature passed on ill fortune to those who saw it. For Lydia and Karen, their chimerism did not show any external characteristics or marks and could only be detected through genetic testing.
Sometimes when a chimera who was originally a set of same-sex twins is born, they can possess a patch of skin or even a different eye color. In case the sex was different, i.e. a chimera born from a male and a female twin, it has the possibility of becoming a hermaphrodite. However, in the case of animals, the effects of chimerism can be more extreme.
Scientists have been trying to study the phenomenon behind Chimerism for a while now. In the year 2017, scientists at the Salk Institute in San Jose, California created a Chimera, more like a hybrid between two species, for research purposes. They dissected the DNA of a day old pig embryo, removed one of its organs and replaced it with human stem cells.
The results of the research were astounding. The pig fetus grew up with a human organ! Scientists are hopeful this will bring a new chance in stem cell research to grow human organs for donation purposes as well as for cruelty-free testing of products.
Although Lydia's condition brought her a lot of trouble she managed to find out about her condition which makes her one of the most unique people in the world. Getting financial aid was not easy, but after all the stress and hardships, Lydia gets to live with her kids happily without the thought of losing them ever again.