What is the maximum number of biological parents an organism can have?

[admin]

Most organisms have two parents, but not all. Could an individual have three parents, or even more?

What is the maximum number of biological parents an organism can have? : Read more

 

[Dynamike]

The answer is six. But sometimes the embryo splits creating a twin and one will inherent all of the good genes and look like Schwarzenegger whole the other will have all the leftovers and look like Danny Devito.

 

[Hooda Thunkett]

It absolutely is possible for a human to be normal and have two different fathers through chimerism. I would bet money that if you checked a few thousand people you would eventually find one. (Good luck testing them though!)
In this case, not all cells in the body would have the same DNA. There are people who were the result of the fusion of two different blastocysts each formed from a different egg/sperm pairing. If you doubt me, google Lydia Fairchild. In her case I believe she had the same father twice, but there is absolutely no reason this couldn't happen with two different fathers. So, three parents. More would probably be theoretically possible, but unlikely as you would need three or more eggs fertilized by sperm from three or more men to form one person.