Thermopolis Woman Grew Up As Only Child, Now She’s One Of 50 Siblings

Thermopolis resident Jessica Lippincott grew up a small-town Wyoming girl and an only child until 2017. Now, she’s part of a thriving family with 49 half-siblings.

Lippincott has had an unorthodox life, even for a rural girl from the Cowboy State. That life was upended when she learned she had an extended family she never knew about — and never would’ve known about had she not submitted a DNA sample to 23andMe.

“It's a fascinating story,” she told Cowboy State Daily. “I always felt like I was trying to find myself, and all the questions I had growing up have been answered.”

The Person She Thought Was Her Father

Lippincott told her story to an audience for the first time at the Washakie Museum and Cultural Center in Worland on Thursday. It was one of the first times anyone in her extended family had publicly discussed the circumstances that changed their lives forever.  

Lippincott was born in California in 1978. Her birth certificate lists Linda Laymon as her mother and Thomas Peters as her father.

“My mom wrote that I had my dad’s ‘big hands, legs and feet,’” she said. “I find that kind of humorous, knowing what I know now.”

Shortly before Lippincott turned 2, her mother left Peters and relocated to be with her family in Casper. On May 7, 1980, Peters assaulted Laymon’s mother, stole her car and abducted Lippincott.

Lippincott said it wasn’t the first time “the person who I thought was my father” had abducted her. Peters previously tried taking Lippincott to Mexico, telling her mother that “he’d put (Jessica) in a pine box if I can’t keep her.”

There was a national search for Lippincott, who was fortunately found safe with Peters in Florida three months later. Peters was arrested and sentenced to prison in Rawlins.

In 1983, Peters escaped from an honor farm he had been transferred to in Riverton, and he hasn’t been seen or heard from since.  

“I have a couple of memories of that time,” Lippincott said. “The back of the car, another one in a room, and that's about it. But I knew that that had happened to me, and I was so embarrassed by it. I never told anybody because I thought I’d be ostracized or bullied.”

Lippincott is unsure if Peters knew he wasn’t her biological father.

Discovering her family history was one of the greatest reliefs for Lippincott, as it confirmed that she was not biologically related to “that man.”

I’m Adopted

Lippincott grew up as an only child with her mother and stepfather, Gary Laymon, who formally adopted her. Even as a child, she felt like an anomaly in her own life.

“I had this weird obsession with science while growing up,” she said. “I remember my first science fair project was about planets and space. I used to play the violin. I loved music. I loved art. I wanted to be a cardiologist.”

After graduating from high school in 1996, Lippincott worked as a paleontologist with the Tate Geological Museum in Casper. She and her husband, Wade Lippincott, started a family in Thermopolis, where she spent several years working at the Wyoming Dinosaur Center.

Nevertheless, Lippincott never stopped wondering about her past. Despite her inquiries and instinctive doubts, her mother wouldn’t divulge anything.

“I used to ask my mom if I was adopted,” she said. “I’d ask over and over and over again. She said, ‘No, you're not adopted.’ And I said, ‘I think I might be. I'm pretty sure I have brothers and sisters.’”

A Deathbed Confession

In 2013, Laymon was dying of terminal cancer. Lippincott decided it was time to ask her mother about Peters so she could begin to piece together her history.

“She started to tell me that he was from Pennsylvania, he was Dutch, this and that,” she said. “Then, all of a sudden, she just said, ‘He's probably not your father, so it doesn't matter anyway.’”

Lippincott learned that her mother had gone to a fertility clinic and used a sperm donor, then she started panicking about disclosing that information. Lippincott didn’t press the subject again while her mother was still alive.

“A part of me wasn't sure if she was telling the truth,” Lippincott said. “She was so sick that she didn't know who I was half the time, so I dropped the subject. But it was still in the back of my mind.”

23, 11, And Me

Four years later, Lippincott decided to get some much-wanted answers on her background through DNA testing company 23andMe. She submitted a sample in March 2017.

“I was more interested in the medical stuff,” she said. “I was an only child, my mom passed away, and I never heard again from who I thought was my father. I was concerned if there were any medical issues I needed to be aware of.”

Within a month, Lippincott was alerted that she had a DNA match. The first thing she saw was a 50% match with an older man who lived in Southern California.

After 39 years, Lippincott had found her biological father. On impulse, Lippincott messaged the man 23andMe said was her biological father. To her astonishment, he responded.

“He wrote me back right away,” she said. “And when he first wrote me back, he said, ‘You have 11 living half-siblings.’”

Lippincott’s initial response was shock and panic. She felt as if her entire life and everything she knew about herself had been upended.

“I was panicking,” she said. “I messaged my husband, and I told him the story. It sounded crazy. Then I went to bed, thinking it was a dream and I'd wake up the next day. These are some of the questions that I had at that moment and continued to have for the next nine months.”

Sibling Surprises

When Lippincott woke up, it wasn’t a dream. And the family she didn’t know she had was eagerly trying to reach her.

“Messages were coming in all day from half-siblings,” she said. “I had to put my phone down and not deal with it because it was very overwhelming at that moment.”

Then, one of Lippincott’s half-sisters took an extra step, inviting her to a “family reunion.”

“One of my sisters said, ‘We’re getting together next week in Arizona. Do you want to come hang out with us? It's like a reunion,’” Lippincott said. “At first, I thought, ‘No way, this is crazy.’ But then I decided to go. If I didn't get along with these people, I could leave.”

A few weeks later, Lippincott was in Arizona with seven of her newly discovered half-siblings. As an added surprise, they were joined by their biological father.

Lippincott described her surreal experience when she first met the sister who had invited her to the reunion.  

“I felt like I was looking in the mirror,” she said. “I kept staring at her, wondering if that was what I looked like from the side and the back. We looked like twins, we were so similar.”

The Numbers

In March 2017, Lippincott was the 12^th known half-sibling of the same biological father. As of late 2024, 50 confirmed half-siblings have been discovered through 23andMe and various other family genealogy databases.

“We're what you call ‘donor-conceived,’” she said. “There are many other donor-conceived family groups out there, but I think ours is probably the coolest.”

Because of the sensitive nature of sperm donation, many details are confidential to keep families safe. Like Lippincott, many of her half-siblings were unaware they were donor-conceived until they sought the answers themselves.

Because Lippincott’s donor-conceived family is “a bunch of nerds,” they have multiple spreadsheets keeping track of their contacts, families and careers, complete with pie charts and bar graphs. The similarities and proclivities of the extended family are intriguing, to say the least.

“I share a lot of traits with my father,” Lippincott said. “He loves science, music and art. He's very meticulous and kind of OCD about certain things I'm pretty particular about. He also does photography, and I do photography as well. All these crazy things added up.”

Everyone in the donor-conceived family was born between 1967 and 1983. Among the 50 half-siblings are four architects, five nurses, three doctors, four scientists, five engineers, eight artists and eight photographers.

That’s not surprising to Lippincott. Their biological father was a lifelong scientist and highly intelligent.

“Most of us have played a musical instrument at some point,” Lippincott said. “And over 80% of us have dimples — that’s one of the first questions we ask when we find another sibling.”

Sensitive Subject

The incredible story of Lippincott’s donor-conceived family has also revealed the less savory details of how the sperm donation industry operated at the time they were conceived.

For instance, all the siblings can trace their stories to the same fertility clinic. That clinic is now defunct and all its records were destroyed.

“This clinic actually had a big fire in 2003, and so all the records are mysteriously gone,” Lippincott said. “Without 23andMe, I never would’ve found my family.”

Lippincott added that the United States has no laws regarding how often someone can donate at a fertility clinic. The size of her donor-conceived family might be due to a lack of regulations and scruples rather than “donor preference.”

Like Lippincott, many of her siblings didn’t know they were donor-conceived until they took genealogy tests.

Many parents didn’t admit it until confronted with the DNA evidence, and some of Lippincott’s siblings have yet to tell their parents that they know the truth.

“I'm pretty open and embracing this because I don't really have any other family alive,” Lippincott said. “Some of the siblings are very private. They don't want their friends or family to know about it. That's part of our spreadsheet.”

Lippincott believes donor-conceived children should be told and aware of their parentage as early as possible.

“They need to know that immediately,” she said. “It’s just like if they’re adopted. I think that's their information to know.”

Found Family

Lippincott has fully embraced her donor-conceived family, which includes her biological father, 49 half-siblings, 16 brothers-in-law, 14 sisters-in-law, and 78 nieces and nephews. Most of them have also eagerly accepted each other and keep in touch whenever possible.

“We had a big reunion in 2019,” she said. “There were 87 of us there. It was like a wedding party anytime we went out to eat.”

Like any family, Lippincott is closer to some of her siblings than others. Many have visited her in Wyoming, and she frequently goes on the annual “sister trips” organized by her half-sisters.

As for how many siblings are still out there, Lippincott believes there could be dozens of others yet to be discovered. She doubts the total number will ever be known.

“I honestly think there's probably at least 100 of us,” she said. “We know that one sibling has passed away, and who knows how many have passed away before this? But I feel like there's probably 100 of us, at least.”

Lippincott only has one regret after her incredible experience.

“I wish I had done it earlier so I had a chance to get to know some of my siblings earlier,” she said. “I wish my mom would have told me a lot when I was younger, and I would have known to seek this information out. I’m very thankful that I did.”

Full Circle

Lippincott’s biological father has also embraced this extended family, something that can’t be said for many donor-conceived children.

“He’s a very private person but very open with us,” she said. “Many donor-conceived people have absolutely no contact with their donors, and the donors don't want to be contacted. Our father doesn't have to have a relationship with us, and I never expected that from him. It was his choice, and I’m very thankful for it.”

The most emotional moment of Lippincott’s presentation was when she recalled the moment her biological father met her three children. Her stepfather, Gary Laymon, died before any of her children were born, so it was their first time meeting and knowing a maternal grandfather.

“I wasn't sure what to think about when it happened,” she said. “When my biological father met my kids, it was very emotional and a very special moment for me.”

It’s more than biology and quirky similarities for Lippincott and her donor-conceived half-siblings. Since that fateful match in 2017, Lippincott has been immersed in the love of family she always suspected was there but never knew she had.

“I was an only child, and now I have siblings across the country,” she said. “I love these people.”

Andrew Rossi can be reached at arossi@cowboystatedaily.com.