A Canadian paternity DNA company knowingly conducted inaccurate tests that identified the wrong father, destroying families in the process, a new report claims.
Viaguard Accu-Metrics sold and delivered at-home tests to prove the identity of a baby’s father over the course of a decade through online stores, charging up to $1,000.
Families who used the tests have now spoken of receiving false results that ruled out real parents and ended relationships.
Viaguard Accu-Metrics owner Harvey Tenenbaum, 91, was caught on camera by a CBC undercover reporter admitting that he knew the tests “were never that accurate.”
He listed occasions when the test had been incorrect, saying: “The test was done by the white man and the baby came out black, and the white man was saying, ‘What’s going on here?’
Corale Mayer ruled out the real father of her baby through a Viaguard test and did not discover the mistake until months after birth
She said the experience was “extremely traumatic” as it pushed her to involve a man who was not the real father in her baby’s life.
Viaguard is based in Toronto, but sold its online tests worldwide to families in the US, UK, Australia and Guatemala.
It is still run by Tenenbaum, who began selling DNA services through Viaguard in the early 2000s, starting the prenatal paternity part of the business in 2013, according to CBC.
If done correctly, the tests should be able to match the DNA of a fetus to the DNA of the biological father.
But when CBC posed as a potential client to interview Tenenbaum, he acknowledged the evidence was inaccurate.
He said: ‘The test was not that accurate… And now we distrust that test.
“There’s a lot involved if it breaks down.” What if the wrong person is called and you’re aborting your child from, you know, the wrong person…? We can imagine that everything happens in life… You see them all, and worse and worse.
When CBC approached him to inform him, he insisted the tests were “accurate” and “perfect.”
But parents tell a very different story.
Corale Mayer, 22, of North Bay, Ontario, was 19 when she discovered she was pregnant.
She searched the Internet and ordered two paternity tests from Viaguard for $800 each: they ruled out the real father and confirmed that the wrong man was the father.
She didn’t discover the mistake until months after the baby was born, when she used a different DNA testing service.
She told CBC: ‘It’s extremely traumatic. You know how when you’re so hysterically upset that you laugh like you’re beyond all emotion?
Mayer created a support group on Facebook to find other parents who had been disappointed by the tests; The group now has more than 90 members.
Viaguard Accu-Metrics owner Harvey Tenenbaum, 91, was caught on CBC camera admitting the tests were inaccurate.
When later questioned on the record, he said the tests were “perfect.”
In Atlanta, Georgia, John Brennan had a similar experience to Mayer when he received a false positive test.
He told CBC: ‘As soon as I saw the test results, it was like a line in the sand. Immediately, at that very moment, things just changed.’
She bought a house and a car and dedicated her life to the baby, even tattooing his name, Travis, on her arm.
But eight months later he discovered that the test was wrong and that he was not really the father.
He said: “There is no manual on how to raise a child for eight months and then find out it’s not yours.” You stay mentally in a mysterious and dark place.
There is a surprising lack of regulation for private DNA testing companies like Viaguard, and experts are calling on the federal government to step in and protect customers.
Mayer told CBC: ‘The main thing I want for Viaguard is for it to close. I think it’s a collective feeling. I don’t think anyone could even imagine it would still be open.’
DailyMail.com has contacted Viaguard for comment.
The company was accused of fraudulent practices before after a customer submitted his dog’s DNA instead of his own and was told it was of Native American descent.
Louis Cote, a resident of Mascouche, Quebec, sent his own DNA and that of his girlfriend’s chihuahua Snoopy to the company for testing.
When Cote received the results, he discovered that both he and Snoopy are of indigenous ancestry: 12 percent Abenaki and 8 percent Mohawk.
“I don’t feel very good for the people who paid for these tests,” Cote said.