Local Who’s Your Daddy? truck continues to break down barriers to DNA testing
Who’s your daddy?
That’s what Jared Rosenthal, founder of the DNA testing truck of the same name, wants people to find out.
Wrapping up a successful season of Swab Stories, a reality show that follows the experiences of people who sought paternity testing from the bright blue truck, Rosenthal plans to use his newfound celebrity to continue dispelling the myths and shame often attached to DNA testing – and the fears about what the tests may reveal.
“These are universal issues,” said Rosenthal. “These are human issues that go back as long as humanity goes back and they get to the core of who you are as a person when you think about who are my parents? Who are my kids? What’s my genetic heritage? Am I really the person that I think I am?”
When Rosenthal had the idea for the Who’s Your Daddy? truck in 2010, he wanted to offer DNA testing in a cheeky format as a way of reaching out to a younger audience that might feel shame about going to a traditional lab for tests.
The truck, which travels all over New York City with on-the-spot testing services, soon became a familiar sight at its home base at the intersection of Lincoln Avenue and Bruckner Boulevard in Mott Haven, where more and more people started to stop to take photos with its graffiti-like Who’s Your Daddy? signage and, for a fee of $390, find out their genetic lineage.
After the truck’s popularity with the locals was picked up by news outlets such as The New York Post, Fox News and ABC in 2012, producers started approaching Rosenthal about a potential show.
“It was insane,” said Rosenthal. “We were on nationwide television, on hundreds of different news programs in 48 hours. And then as soon as that happened, then the television production company started calling.”
Swab Stories, eight episodes in which families turned to Health Street to confirm suspected genetic links or reconnect with lost relatives, aired on VH1 over the summer.
Katie McGlade is one of the people featured on the show. After a viral Facebook search connected her to people she believed to be her biological brother and sister, Rosenthal drove his truck to her home in Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, for one of the show’s episodes and confirmed that the three were indeed related.
McGlade said that while she was initially nervous about sharing her story with the world, the outpouring of support she received from Rosenthal and show viewers made her glad to have shared her search in such a public way.
“I could tell [Rosenthal] was interested in the story of the three of us and he kind of just acted like our friend and not like a TV host,” said McGlade.
Ana Lopez, who was Rosenthal’s co-host and “The Swabinator” on the show, has been working at Health Street for years alongside her other job as an OBGYN nurse. Now known for her audacious hosting on the show, Lopez swabs cheeks to collect DNA specimens that are then sent in to a laboratory in Ohio and returned with results in 3 to 5 days.
According to Lopez, it is precisely their company’s humorous approach to DNA testing that keeps fueling the popularity of the truck and encourages people who may have doubts about their genetic links to get tested.
“The good thing that came out of the show was that DNA didn’t have to be something that was taboo,” said Lopez. “A lot of people have questions and it’s so surprising that so many people have DNA problems and no one knows about it.”
Rosenthal said he hopes that by reaching out to people through this unconventional medium, he can help people such as McGlade answer questions that they may have kept hidden for years.
About Post Author
Proud to be a Bronx Based Business for 5 years strong.
I have a question about a hair test
Hey Jared I need some help, I was a regular smoker but quit Aug 2,it is now Nov 27 would I pass a hair test,most likely they’ll take it from my armpit
Jared if someone took two hits of weed a month ago and is not a heavy user whatsoever or even casual, will it show up on a hair test
Jared I need help get back to me asap
[…] of ideas falling on you from the sky works some of the time (in fact, it once literally led me to this story), but also leaves a lot of room for […]
[…] first article I published in New York was about a man who sold paternity tests from the window of his truck. This had been at a time when I was reporting out of the South Bronx and I heralded it as something […]