{Real life resources for unknown parentage research and support can be accessed via the ISOGG Wiki and Watershed DNA.}
Shameless S1E10 "Nana Gallagher Had an Affair" (US TV episode 2011)
Estranged mother Monica Gallagher attempts to gain custody of her apparently black son Liam by proving he is not Frank Gallagher's biological child (Monica and Frank both appear to be white). Brothers Liam, Lip and Ian Gallagher undergo DNA paternity testing and the family discovers that, while Liam is in fact Frank's biological child, Ian is not and is the result of a non-paternity event (NPE), ie misattributed paternity. Frank implies that Liam's coloring must be the result of his grandmother's rumoured affair with a sax player. Meanwhile, Lip is disappointed when the test confirms Frank is his biological father.
Shameless S7E5 "Own Your Shit" (US TV episode 2016)
Another brother Carl Gallagher takes a biogeographical ancestry DNA test to prove he has some black ancestry as a last-ditch attempt to get into military school as a diversity candidate. While the test doesn't confirm any African ancestry, it reveals Carl is part Native American, specifically Apache, securing him a reserved place.
Shameless S8E3 "God Bless Her Rotting Soul" (US TV episode 2017)
Neighbour and family friend Kevin Ball was abandoned as a child at a gas station. After a male breast cancer scare, Kevin takes a DNA screening test to learn about any genetic health risks he may have passed on to his children. There was no evidence of hereditary disease risks but Kevin had a rare chromosomal pattern. Kevin subsequently reunites with his biological family, who the test had revealed belong to a fictional isolated endogamous community in rural Kentucky with a rare genetic signature called the "Huntsville subgroup".
A Discovery of Witches (UK TV series 2018, adapted from the 2011 novel by Deborah Harkness)
In S1E1 historian and reluctant witch Diana Bishop meets Matthew Clairmont, a professor of biochemistry at Oxford University who is also a vampire. In S1E2 he shows her his laboratory which studies the genetics and evolution of various species including vampires, witches and demons. He explains to her the significance of mutations in the mitochondrial DNA of witches as they assimilate into the human population over centuries and lose their magical powers. He shows her a chart illustrating the mitochondrial DNA of a powerful medieval witch named Benvenguda and compares it with that of her last known direct descendant, Beatrice Good.
Bull S3E5 "The Missing Piece" (US TV episode 2018)
The Trial Analysis Corporation (TAC) team assists an innocent man with an alibi on trial for murder after law enforcement identified him as a suspect using investigative genetic genealogy via a match in a for-profit genetic genealogy company's customer database. The defendant's wife had submitted his DNA to the testing company for his birthday, so he could discover his family roots. He was not aware that he was adopted and had an identical twin brother, explaining his match to crime scene DNA evidence and eyewitness testimony. The revelation resulted in all charges against him being dropped.
Blue Bloods S9E5 "Thicker Than Water" (US TV episode 2018)
Detectives Danny Reagan and Maria Baez investigate an attempted murder of an infertility specialist with a god complex, after the daughter of one of the couples he treated in the past discovers via a consumer DNA test that the doctor is her biological father.
Grey's Anatomy S15E16 "Blood and Water" (US TV episode 2019)
Dr Jo Wilson is a foundling, abandoned as a baby at a fire station. After marrying Dr Alex Karev, Jo orders a fictional Geonome consumer DNA test to overcome her fears about her unknown genetic heritage when feeling pressured to have children.
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| Geonome DNA saliva kit in Grey's Anatomy (fictional brand) |
Grey's Anatomy S15E17 "And Dream of Sheep" (US TV episode 2019)
While Jo's DNA test did not reveal any major disease risks, a co-worker was able to identify Jo's birth mother via a first cousin DNA match.
The Good Fight S3E5 "The One where a Nazi Gets Punched" (US TV episode 2019)
The Reddick, Boseman and Lockhart law firm represents the plaintiffs in a class action lawsuit against a direct-to-consumer (DTC) genetic testing company Second Helix that facilitated the use of their customers' genetic data to discriminate against life insurance applicants with genetic health risks.
Nancy Drew S1E9 "The Hidden Staircase" (US TV episode 2019)
Bess Marvin, a co-worker of sleuth Nancy Drew at The Bayside Claw diner in Horseshoe Bay, whips a consumer DNA test out of her locker and asks her putative long-lost cousin Owen Marvin for some of his saliva for a DNA comparison to help her uncover her mother's mysterious past.
Stumptown S1E11 "The Past and the Furious" (US TV episode 2020)
Dex Parios, a former marine and PI in Portland, Oregon, is hired to track down the birth parents of a late discovery adoptee in the air force who only learned he was adopted after a consumer DNA test bought by a friend as a joke unexpectedly revealed he was 48% Native American. Dex investigates the shady Christian adoption agency that arranged the closed adoption and identifies his birth parents. Local tribal leader Sue Lynn Blackbird is familiar with the agency, which aggressively targeted vulnerable tribe members despite the Indian Child Welfare Act, and helps Dex reunite her client with his biological family.
Vera S10E2 "Parent Not Expected" (UK TV episode 2020)
Northumberland DCI Vera Stanhope investigates the death of a troubled young man who recently discovered via a consumer DNA test birthday gift from his girlfriend that the man who raised him was not his biological father. The admin of an online genealogy forum titled "Parent Not Expected", a search angel who had identified his own biological father and was now helping others with their searches, had helped him identify his biological father via the testing company's DNA match database.
Blue Bloods S10E19 "Family Secrets" (US TV episode 2020)
Sean Reagan is puzzled by an unknown first cousin match on his paternal side when he does a consumer DNA test for a school assignment.
