Finnish man meets biological father for the first and last time thanks to investigative program

A 54-year-old Finnish man, Antti Heikkinen, found his biological father through a national investigative program—only to meet him once before the man’s death, reports Yle’s MOT documentary series.

Heikkinen and his sister, Kaisa Levander, had spent years searching for their biological roots after learning their parents had used donor sperm from a Helsinki fertility clinic in the 1960s–70s. At the time, Finnish law did not require clinics to disclose donor identities, and records were often kept secret.

DNA tests later revealed that Heikkinen and Levander had different biological fathers, despite their mother’s lifelong belief that they shared the same donor. Their hopes of finding answers had nearly faded until MOT aired a December 2024 report on the clinic’s practices.

The broadcast prompted a woman named Essi—also conceived via donor sperm from the same clinic—to take a DNA test. The results confirmed she was Heikkinen’s half-sister. “I suddenly realized this was the same person from the news story that made me take the test at the last minute,” Essi told Yle.

Encouraged by this breakthrough, Heikkinen’s wife, Riikka, re-examined earlier DNA matches. She identified a former medical student in Helsinki during the likely donation period. When Heikkinen contacted the man, he confirmed his involvement. “It’s nice that something good came of it,” the man replied.

By then, however, the man was terminally ill with cancer. Heikkinen, his sons, and Essi rushed to meet him, his wife, and daughter. “I kept wondering how one person could share so many similarities with me,” Heikkinen recalled. The visit was both their first and last; the man died shortly after.

Heikkinen’s sister, Levander, also found her biological father and additional siblings through the investigation. One newly discovered half-brother, Matti Kiviluoto, had taken a DNA test on a whim—only to learn from his parents that his father had donated sperm as a student. “They never told me if any children were born from it,” Kiviluoto said.

The fertility clinic’s practices, now under scrutiny, operated in an era when donor anonymity was absolute. Decades later, DNA technology and media exposure have reunited families separated by long-held secrets.