A Yonkers woman has filed a federal lawsuit after she says a botched paternity test led her to abort her first child — only to discover months later that the results were wrong. The emotional and devastating ordeal has left her grieving a loss she believes could have been avoided.
A Decision Based on False Information
The 28-year-old administrative assistant, who requested to remain anonymous, says she was pregnant for the first time last summer after years of struggling to conceive with her then-fiancé.
The couple had briefly broken up, during which time she had a single sexual encounter with another man, using protection. When they reconciled shortly after, she found out she was expecting and felt certain the baby was her fiancé’s.
“I was tracking my ovulation,” she said. However, to remove any doubt — and avoid disclosing the encounter to her fiancé — she arranged a paternity test involving the other man.
The Test That Changed Everything
After two inconclusive tests costing over $1,000, she turned to DNA Diagnostics Center (DDC), a major Ohio-based company known for its widespread DNA testing. On October 2024, she and the other man visited Winn Health Labs in the Bronx — located behind a hair salon — to submit samples for DDC to analyze.
So confident the results would clear her temporary partner, she even hosted a gender reveal party with her fiancé while waiting. But on Halloween, she received a shocking call: the lab said the other man was the father, with 99.99% certainty.
Now nearing 20 weeks pregnant, and facing New York’s 24-week abortion limit, she felt forced to reveal the truth to her fiancé. “He just cried,” she said. “He asked, ‘Why would you go through a gender reveal?’ I told him, ‘Because I was positive it was yours.’”
Despite a moment of hesitation during the two-day termination procedure, it was too late to stop. Her pregnancy was ended.
The Truth Comes Too Late
In February 2025, months after the abortion and after the emotional fallout with her fiancé, DDC called with devastating news: the test results were wrong. A company representative reportedly told her the original results were the result of an “IT error” and that the man she believed to be the father wasn’t — her fiancé was.
The relationship, already under enormous strain, ended shortly after.
Now, the woman is in therapy, trying to process the emotional weight of what happened. “My daughter would have been born on the 17th of April,” she told The New York Post, through tears.
Legal Action Against the Labs
The woman is now suing both DDC and Winn Health Labs in Manhattan Federal Court, claiming negligence and emotional distress. Her lawyer, Craig Phemister, says the labs must be held accountable for the “unthinkable mistake.”
“When you know people are relying immediately on paternity tests to make life decisions, why did it take four months for them to call? It just doesn’t make sense,” he said.
In a public statement, DNA Diagnostics Center said:
“For 30 years, DDC has provided reliable and accurate testing to millions of customers. If any concern is raised, we take immediate action to validate the results and rapidly notify customers of any issues. We understand and appreciate the incredible amount of trust people place in us to get this right, and we expend every effort to meet that high standard.”
Winn Health Labs has not commented on the lawsuit.
The Bigger Concern
While this may be a rare case, the woman fears others may have been similarly affected. “How many other people did it happen to?” she asked.
As she works through the emotional trauma, she hopes her story raises awareness about the real-life consequences of errors in DNA testing — especially when life-altering decisions are made based on their results.