My brother could be my son — the disturbing truth behind my dark family secrets

Logan Gifford was just 10 years old when his mother, Doreene, first sexually abused him.

He endured these horrific assaults for six years and during that time, Doreene gave birth to another son. 

Now, at 26, Logan is taking legal action to conduct a paternity test on his younger brother, whom he suspects could be his child.  

“My brother could be my son”

According to 8 News Now, Logan’s 15-year-old brother currently lives with him, and experiences cognitive difficulties. 

“There’s a possibility that my brother could be my son. I’m still directly involved in the mess that has been left to me,” Logan says. 

“He deserves to have a quiet and peaceful life… He didn’t ask for any of this.”

In a 2015 preliminary hearing, Logan recounted how the abuse began.

He told the court that his mother invited him into the room she shared with his father, Theodore. By then, most of the family was asleep and she was playing a pornoagraphic film. While they were in the room, she began molesting him. 

Logan explained to the court that he was abused in late 2008, which aligned with the conception of his younger brother.

Doreene was charged with sexual assault with a minor and incest, however denied all allegations. Finally, she was sentenced to between eight and 20 years after she took a plea deal.

A therapist suggested Logan could be the father

In 2024, Doreene was released on parole but months later, was arrested for violating one of her conditions by attempting to make contact with two of her sons, including Logan. 

Still living with the trauma, Logan said that playing a part in sending his mother to jail “halfway” vindicated him. Unfortunately, his life has continued to unravel after a therapist put it to him that his brother could also be his son. 

“I was 17 at the time,” he told the Las Vegas Review-Journal.

“That threw me for a loop. I didn’t ask for any of this.

“I was a child when all of this happened and yet now I’m responsible for picking up the pieces of something that really is still continuing to have an impact in my life and dragging me to deal with that.”

Logan added he didn’t have a “traditional childhood” — he was exposed to drug use from an early age and had regular encounters with child protective services.

Tragically, his youngest brother drowned at three years old. 

Logan has tried to move forward with his life, becoming an avid campaigner for voting rights, as well as getting married, raising his step-daughter, and caring for his brother.

He decided to speak out about what he experienced so that other victim-survivors don’t have to suffer alone.

“To sit here and say that my brother may be the product of my sexual assault is a very visceral thing to think about as a male survivor.

“But he’s here now. There’s no going back and undoing anything. And he deserves to have a quality of life where he’s comfortable, where he can be a kid.”