Has Brittney Griner undergone genetic or hormonal testing that is publicly documented?
Executive summary
No reputable reporting or official record establishes that Brittney Griner has undergone publicly documented genetic or hormonal testing at the direction of Russian authorities; multiple fact-checks show the widely circulated claim that Russia ordered DNA or “gender” testing is fabricated [1] [2] [3]. Separately, U.S. court reporting from 2016 indicates DNA test results were expected to be introduced in a Phoenix child‑support matter, but that reporting does not prove any Russian-ordered testing nor detail the nature or outcome of those tests [4].
1. The core claim and how it spread — fabricated CNN screenshots and fake chyrons
The allegation that Russian officials ordered Griner to undergo DNA or gender testing circulated online in 2022 as images purporting to be CNN broadcasts; Reuters and other fact-checkers traced those images to deliberate fabrication and found no corresponding CNN report or official statement corroborating the claim [1] [3]. Newsweek likewise reviewed the available evidence and concluded the photos of a CNN broadcast reporting DNA testing were fabricated, and noted no credible reporting supported the rumor that Russia demanded such testing [2].
2. What mainstream fact‑checking outlets have concluded
Multiple outlets that examined the claim rated it as altered or false: Reuters explicitly labeled the CNN screenshot altered and noted no such article exists on CNN’s platforms [1], while Yahoo’s fact-checking roundup and Newsweek reached the same conclusion and referenced similar previous fabrications using the same template [3] [2]. These outlets also pointed out that the fabricated imagery followed a known pattern of manipulating network graphics to create false credibility [3].
3. The 2016 DNA reference in a U.S. child‑support case — limited and specific
Independent of the Russia rumors, local reporting from 2016 about a custody and child-support dispute involving Griner and Glory Johnson said DNA test results were expected to be introduced at a Phoenix hearing, but the articles framed that as a procedural point in a U.S. civil case and did not describe the tests in forensic or gender‑determination terms, nor tie them to any Russian authority or to hormone testing [4] [5]. The 2016 coverage noted attorneys anticipated DNA results would be relevant to the child‑support proceeding, but it did not provide explicit documentation of the test method or public release of final test results in a way that establishes a broader medical or gender‑testing record [4].
4. Broader misinformation ecosystem and recurring themes
Fact-checkers have repeatedly flagged rumors about Griner’s gender and alleged “sex testing” as false or misleading; PolitiFact labeled claims that she is “really a man” as false and noted a history of hurtful public assumptions about her appearance, while later misinformation cycles in 2025 revived similar fabricated stories about league‑wide “sex testing” that lacked credible sourcing [6] [7]. The pattern is consistent: provocative visual or textual fabrications are circulated for clicks or political impact, exploiting public unfamiliarity with legal and medical privacy and the hunger for sensational details [3] [7].
5. What reporting does not show — honest limits of the record
Available, credible sources do not document any Russian-ordered genetic or hormonal testing of Brittney Griner, and fact-checks specifically debunk images claiming otherwise [1] [2] [3]; while 2016 U.S. court reporting indicates DNA test results were anticipated in a child-support case, that reporting is narrow in scope and does not constitute public documentation of genetic or hormonal testing tied to the later Russian detention or to any medical gender‑determination procedure [4]. If additional, verifiable records exist beyond the cited fact‑checks and the 2016 local reporting, they are not present in the reviewed sources, and this account is limited to the documented public record those sources provide.