In apparently the first reported instance of a paternity test being ‘fooled’ by a ‘human chimera’, a man ‘failed’ a paternity test because the genetic material in his saliva was shown to be different from that in his sperm. Such a chimera has extra genes, here absorbed from a twin lost in early pregnancy. The result was that the 'true' genetic father of the man's son was the twin, who had never been born. Chimeras present a challenge to legal systems, given the frequent emphasis on genetics in determining parenthood. This paper considers the phenomenon's potential implications for English law's understanding of parenthood. It advocates the recognition of the chimeric person as the ‘true’ legal father and suggests two methods through which this might be accomplished, pointing out their broader consequences. The paper also explores English law's likely practical response to the situation of a potential chimera.

中文翻译：

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父母的“嵌合体”

显然，在第一个报道的亲子鉴定被“人类嵌合体”“欺骗”的实例中，一个人“未通过”亲子鉴定，因为证明其唾液中的遗传物质与精子中的遗传物质不同。这样的嵌合体具有额外的基因，在这里从早孕中失去的双胞胎中吸收。结果是该男子儿子的“真正”遗传父亲是双胞胎，他们从未出生。嵌合体对法律制度提出了挑战，因为在确定父母身份时经常强调遗传学。本文考虑了这一现象对英国法律对父母身份的理解的潜在影响。它主张将嵌合人识别为“真正的”合法父亲，并提出两种方法可以实现这一目标，并指出其更广泛的后果。