This story emerged a few weeks ago, the tale of the medical technologist who swapped a patient’s semen for his own. The University of Utah has announced that it has launched a formal investigation.

A panel consisting of medical ethicists and doctors has been convened. University of Utah Medical Group CEO Sean Mulvihill said ‘This is a shocking story for all of us…We want to make sure that people are reassured that the policies and practices today make it inconceivable that the same sort of thing can happen today.’

Around 15 people have called a hotline the university set up earlier this month. At present there is only one known case of Lippert fathering a child without the family’s knowledge, however it is thought that a number of families are considering paternity testing.

Up to 1,000 people may have gone to the clinic while Lippert worked there. The woman at the centre of the controversy, Annie Branum (pictured above), is now 21, and says the discovery has forced her to rethink who she is.