Graham Greene once wrote "A story has no beginning or end: arbitrarily one chooses that moment of experience from which to look back or from which to look ahead." This is true of fiction or history, even the personal history of family.

Many of us are curious about the people and stories that came before us which came together to bring us into the world. With sites like Ancestry.com, we can look back into the past in ways that were previously impossible. But sometimes when looking back, we discover shocking truths…

Dreaded Problem

Back in the late '70s, Sally and Howard were having one of the problems that many young married couples dread. They had been trying to have a child for some time but for whatever reason, they were having trouble conceiving.

Getting Help

They recognized that they might need some help, so they went to the Obstetrics and Gynecology Associates of Idaho Falls, where they met Dr. Mortimer. The news that they got from him wasn't that great.

Triple Trouble

It turned out that they had been working against a trio of problems. Sally had a tipped uterus and Howard had a low sperm count and low sperm mobility. Dr. Mortimer suggested a procedure where 85 percent of Howard's sperm would be mixed with a donor's to increase the odds of conception.

Paying Off

The couple agreed and they picked out a donor who was a college student that looked like Howard. Three times a month for the next three months, the couple went to see Dr. Gerald Mortimer for the inseminations. It all paid off and on May 20th, 1981, Sally and Howard gave birth to their daughter Kelli.

Strong Bond

In his time working with Sally and Howard, Dr. Mortimer apparently developed so strong a bond with them and their daughter Kelli that some time after her birth, when Sally told the doctor that they would be moving to Washington state, he was actually brought to tears.

Jumping Ahead

Flash forward to July of 2017 and baby Kelli is all grown up. She's 36 years old, married and living in Benton County, Washington. A lot of other things changed in that time as well. Her parents' marriage had broken down along the way and they'd divorced some years ago.

Life Goes On

Nearly four decades after he'd delivered the baby he cared so much about, Dr. Mortimer had put his days of practicing medicine behind him. After a long career of helping countless parents and delivering countless babies, he was living out his final years in a comfortable retirement.

Secret Kept

And during all of those intervening years, Kelli's parents had never told her about the fertility treatment they'd had while trying to conceive. They may have never told her if it weren't for a little bit of natural curiosity on Kelli's part and Ancestry.com.

Uncovering the Past

Ancestry.com offers a service where if you send them a sample of your DNA, they analyze it and tell you the secrets held in your genetic code. They can tell you all the different facts about your ethnic origins. They can even tell you about famous ancestors you may have or connect you with long lost relatives.

What's My History?

Like so many other people, Kelli Rowlette decided to use Ancestry.com to learn about her genealogy. She sent away a sample of her DNA thinking the most shocking thing that she might get back in the results was that she was X percent of this unexpected ethnicity and Y percent of that one.

Shocking Revalation

What she didn't expect at all was that her Ancestry.com results said that the man she thought of as her dad wasn't her dad. At first, she just chalked it up to a mistake on the part of the testing process. But when she told her mother about the test, they had a conversation about the fertility treatment. Then Kelli told Sally the name of her father: Dr. Gerald Mortimer.

Family Devastated

Now Dr. Mortimer's tears all those years ago made a little more sense. Sally was completely devastated upon finding out that the man who'd she'd trusted as her OB/GYN was the actual father of her child. When she told her now-ex husband Howard, he was equally shocked and dismayed.

Violation of Trust

Though Sally and Howard had already known there was a chance that the donor was Kelli's biological father, they had been entirely betrayed and Sally felt she had been violated by Dr. Mortimer. For Kelli, the entire thing was a whirlwind that, in some ways, threw her entire identity into question.

What to Do?

Now there was the question of what they were going to do with the obvious evidence of what Dr. Mortimer had done. In the end, they decided that Dr. Mortimer should have to pay a price for the psychological pain and anguish he'd caused.

Lawsuit

Kelli Rowlette filed a lawsuit against Dr. Gerald Mortimer, alleging that he'd used his own sperm to impregnate her mother. "Dr. Mortimer knew Kelli Rowlette was his biological daughter but did not disclose this to [either parent]," the lawsuit said.

Unconscionable Act

"Dr. Mortimer fraudulently and knowingly concealed his use of his own genetic material in the procedure," it continued. The main — and very strong — evidence for the suit was the Ancestry.com genetic testing.

Powerful Discoveries

Ancestry.com is no stranger to uncovering unexpected truths about people's genetic pasts, Eric Health, Ancestry.com's Chief Privacy Officer told USA TODAY. He said the company's tests regularly help people "make new and powerful discoveries about their family history and identity," which sometimes leads to "unexpected connections."

Good and Bad

But at least in Kelly's case, making those unexpected connections isn't always a positive thing. Folks looking to learn about accomplished or famous relatives in their past often forget that they may find layabouts and scoundrels too.

Them Too

Kelly also included the Obstetrics and Gynecology Associates of Idaho Falls, accusing them of medical negligence, fraud, negligent infliction of emotional distress and breach of contract. It's not clear if anyone else at the facility had any knowledge of Dr. Mortimer's alleged actions.

History's Secrets

While Kelli's biological father turned out to be someone other than the man who raised her, it's important to remember one thing: DNA is not family. Our families are the people around us who love us without question or condition.