New DNA Test Reveals Children Born of Incest

Suspect your parents may have been related? Well, now you can find out behind their back, thanks to new advances in DNA testing, USA Today reports. In a study published yesterday, doctors revealed that they can now determine if a child is born of incest without testing the DNA of either parent. They made the breakthrough while analyzing the DNA of disabled children to determine which genes trigger various disabilities.

They found 10 children whose genetic patterns were only possible if their parents had been father-daughter, mother-son or brother-sister couples. “This is a first report of a potentially important new category of incidental findings in medicine,” said one bioethicist. “We are going to learn a lot more about undisclosed relationships.” That could put doctors in uncomfortable situations in the future—if they discover the mother was a minor, for example, they’ll be legally required to report child abuse. (More incest stories.)