The United States consulate in the country is being sued for US$180 million in a local court by Miguel Familia, a US citizen of Dominican origin, who alleges that when he went to get residency for his daughter, the DNA test to prove he was her father came back negative.
Familia says he thought his wife, Yessica Guerrero, had cheated on him and this caused his marriage to break up in 2005. When he tested his now 11 years old daughter again, the result was positive.
The negative result was produced by the US lab the Consulate regularly uses for these tests. At the time, the US Consulate rejected the four-year old girl’s application for US residency. Seven years later, tests carried out by Amadita and Referencia labs in the Dominican Republic indicated 99.99% that the girl is his own.
Miguel Familia never believed his wife and went on to divorce her. Listin Diario reports that the mother had sued the father for child support, but a court in La Romana rejected the petition on grounds that Familia was not the biological father.
The resulting turmoil for the family led to his wife suffering depression and alcoholism and mistreating the child. She was sent to Justice and bail was set at RD$100,000 which the mother could not pay and had to go to jail in La Romana.
Familia is now trying to repair the damage caused but he states that he feels terrible, having lost his wife and his child for seven years. His wife does not want a reconciliation because of the trauma this has caused the family. He said that the sum he was claiming from the consulate would not be enough to for him to get over his suffering.
http://listin.com.do/la-republica/2012/10/11/250593/Demandan-por-US180-MM-a-embajada-EEUU-y-clinica
http://eldia.com.do/nacionales/2012/10/10/96164/ADN-errado-destruye-toda-una-familia
www.diariolibre.com/noticias/2012/10/11/i355253_demanda-consulado-eeuu-sto-dgo-por-prueba-adn.html