HAYDEN, Idaho — Brianna Hayes is a 33-year-old woman who, like many people, turned to an at-home DNA test in search of genetic information. She took the test hoping to get answers to some ongoing health issues, including a bout with leukemia in her childhood.
But the test didn't give her information about her health; instead, she said it gave her more than a dozen half-siblings and the identity of her biological father.
Brianna Hayes' mother, Sharon Hayes, is suing Dr. David R. Claypool, a former Spokane gynecologist, for allegedly using his own sperm to inseminate her 34 years ago. Brianna Hayes learned of the doctor's alleged actions last March, when she took a 23andMe DNA test. It was then she learned she shared DNA with 16 people in Eastern Washington and, to her shock, was a genetic match with Claypool.
"I felt immense guilt for even finding out in the first place," Brianna Hayes said. "I was trying to seek information about where this could have came from where this could have happened."
For 32 years of her life, she believed she shared DNA with her father. That's until she found out she was born through in-vitro fertilization.
"My initial reaction was deep, deeply rooted guilt, for even finding out this information, because my mom never told me about any of this until I took the DNA test," Brianna Hayes said.
The Hayes family filed a lawsuit through Spokane County Superior Court on Thursday. The lawsuit claims Claypool violated the state's medical malpractice statute, which requires doctors to get informed consent from patients for treatment.
There are currently no laws that ban doctors from secretly using their own sperm during insemination procedures.
"It's very clear what informed consent is, and in this case, Sharon selected a profile that was clearly not Dr. Claypool," said RJ Ermola, the Hayes family's lawyer. "We feel very confident that he violated the medical malpractice statute."
Documents claim Sharon Hayes was told the DNA belonged belonged to an anonymous donor.
"She knew that she consented to the profile that she selected based on my dad," Brianna Hayes said. "She did not consent to him."
KREM 2 reached out to Claypool's lawyer, who said the lawsuit is currently in litigation. The layer had no other comment at this time.
The lawsuit is currently filed as a civil case seeking financial damages. The first hearing for the case is set for early February 2024.
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