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Many of us don’t know much about our older relatives, let alone the generations that came before us. But if we don’t ask questions, we will never learn our history.
To show you the kind of secrets that can be unlocked with the right "key," we collected a list of the most memorable stories from r/AncestryDNA.
It's a place where people who were surprised by their DNA test results can share exactly what made them feel as if they had just found a secret room in the family home.
This post may include affiliate links.
#1
Just Found Out About A 32 Yr Old Daughter
I just got a message from a young lady saying that she wanted to get to know me. Like most people I was in shock wondering if she had the right person and thinking that a DNA test may need to be done to confirm that I was her dad. Then I realized what site she messaged through and the DNA test had already been done.
I never thought this would happen to me. Is it wrong to want to know why her mom never told me? We were in the same town for 3 years after the baby was born. My emotions are all over the place. I feel cheated. I did not get a chance to be in the child's life. The decision was made for me. This is so crazy. I can't believe I have a 32 yr old daughter and 2 grandkids.
Update: I have been a nervous wreck waiting for her to respond. She finally did!! It took her a long time to respond because she was scared the response may not have been good. She is excited to get to know me too.
Jane Doe-Doe 12 hours ago
That is so sad but hopefully you can make up for some of the lost time
RELATED:
#2
Ancestry Did It Again!
A lady I've never met or heard of reached out recently, saying we're showing to be a high match - it tells her I'm either her first cousin or nephew. I look and it says first cousin on my end, but that doesn't make sense - I'm about 20 years younger than her. I look at her family tree, nothing matched with mine.
We message back and forth and it turns out her parents knew my grandparents very well when she was little.
I knew my grandpa had had an affair way back in the day, but the details were fuzzy. So I called my aunt last night, my deceased dad's youngest sister (until now!), and asked if she knew this lady's mom's name. She was like, "Oh yeah, daddy had an affair with her. Momma confronted her and that ended it".
I proceed to tell my aunt about this lady, and she said she remembered her and that my grandpa would always dote on her whenever she was around. So I went ahead and called it and informed my aunt that she definitely has a little sister! DNA don't lie. She messaged her instantly and they are chatting back and forth, as am I and my... aunt!
#3
Discovered A Half Brother And Three Nieces
On Monday, I found a LinkedIn message where my newly discovered niece found me and shared her Ancestry results showing my father as her paternal grandfather. She had also found my half brother’s birth mother and spoken with her. The story she gave is that she wasn’t my dad’s girlfriend and was dating more than one person. She wasn’t sure who the father was so gave the baby up for adoption. Never told my dad because she didn’t know if he was the father. This was 1966. Roe vs Wade wasn’t until 1973. Being a 19-year-old single mother with no credentials or skills would have meant crushing poverty so she made the best decision she could.
I have now spoken with my half brother and two of my nieces. Genetics are a trip, man. I am 48 and he’s 59. You can definitely tell we are brothers. We look alike. Our voices sound very similar and we have a similar sense of humor. On our very first phone call I forgot to turn on my ringer after work and missed his first call. I called him back and the first thing he says is, “You haven’t talked me in 50 years and missed my first phone call.” 😂😂😂😂😂😂. I thought, “Yep, definitely my brother.”
#4
I Got My DNA Results Back Today - It Has Been Overwhelming To Say The Least
After 31 years of searching, I found my dad today. Not only did I find my dad, I found out I have a half sister.
I woke up at 06:45 and saw my results had been posted. My top match was my mom's sister who I grew up knowing, but I also matched as a half sister with another woman on my paternal side.
After a couple hours of Google-fu my husband and I found my sister on Facebook. She had done all the searching for our father 5 years ago. He knew I was out there he just didn't know who I was or how to find me.
When they first met she asked if she had siblings and he suspected me. He gave her permission to share his contact info with me the day I find her.
Well that day was today.
I talked on the phone with my dad for the first time ever today!
We lived in the same city my whole life. For 5 years we live less than a quarter mile away from each other.
I get to meet my dad and my sister on Saturday.
So yeah, today was crazy. I thought I had weeks of research ahead of me and was definitely not prepared for how today was going to go.
#5
My Step Bro Is My Half Bro
When I was 12 a long time ago (I am an old man), my parents divorced. My dad was devastated. My mom left and we 3 kids stayed with my dad. Dad remarried and my new stepmom and step brother moved in. Life was good again.
My step mom was a former girlfriend of my dad from before my parents met. She had dumped my dad and married someone else 20 years prior. They had seen each other only twice in the intervening 20 years, lived thousands of miles apart and lost track of each other until both got divorced and each went looking for the other.
We grew up. My stepmom passed away after 18 years of marriage to my dad. My dad passed away 8 years later.
As older adults, my sister and I grew to suspect my step brother was our half brother, based on looks and history. One of the 2 visits during their 20 years apart was about 9 months before my step brother was born. And my mom was out of town then.
My step brother was willing to test the theory, but not while his ostensible father was alive. So we waited. Finally the time was right and Ancestry DNA confirmed our suspicions. We were all pleased. My step brother is proud to claim blood kinship to my dad as he was a wonderful man and father. And we are glad to know our dad was able to reunite with and help to raise his other child.
We siblings are all close, all 5 of us. It is 5 now, because my dad had me, my sister and my full brother with my mom, one with my stepmom (my step bro/half bro) and then he married a third time after his second wife died, and wife 3 had an adult daughter we all had known as kids, and we drew her into the family joyfully.
Few such stories have such happy endings. But ours sure does.
#6
Ancestry Discovery After 50+ Years Of Friendship
Hey guys! Just joined this group today to share a crazy story we found out with Ancestry.
My nana, Bonnie, was put up for adoption in 1945. Raised by my Oma and Opa, who couldn't have children themselves.
Fast forward 17ish years, she met her life long best friend Mary, who was raised by her Aunt as her mother couldn't raise her herself. Mary and my Nana always shared physical similarities, and always felt a strong connection but never knew why.
We just did my, and my nana's ancestry this year. Through ancestry, I found that her and Mary share a biological mother, but different fathers. Mary passed away before we could inform her of this find, but of course my nana was (is) ecstatic. So crazy how life finds a way to bring you close to those you're meant to meet.
It was cool to see where I'm from and whatnot as well of course, but what are the chances that your lifelong best friend is actually your sister? So cool and grateful for Ancestry. Just wanted to share.
#7
Mom, Seriously?
Was given an AncestryDNA kit for Christmas, just for fun. Results showed my sister and I are only half-siblings. Hmmmm. Showed my ethnicity to be 30% Chinese and from a certain region. Decided to ask my uncle what he knew. He squirmed around and said he knew I had a different father and gave me a name I was somewhat familiar with. A quick Google search and turns out my alleged bio dad is from a certain political dynasty and grandfather was a former president of my home country. His image is on currency type historical figure. Both have Wikipedia pages with loads of information, including ethnicity and region, which checks out with my report. Internet stalked my alleged half siblings and one sister looks spot on like me (though 25 years older). At the end of her life, my mom was spewing her life story to anyone who would listen, but NEVER mentioned this tidbit. At least information on alleged bio dad is available and he wasn’t just some random, anonymous guy, so I feel a little closure. Both mom and dad have passed, so no harm or hurt. I just have a super interesting story and plot twist at this stage of my life.
The Starsong Princess 10 hours ago
If he was a powerful man, mom may not have had much choice.
#8
My Husband And I Tested, With Unexpected (And Funny) Results
My husband is Laotian, or so he thought. At least, he is culturally Laotian, and both his parents immigrated here from Laos. He took the test and found out he is almost entirely Vietnamese and the rest Chinese, which has led to him teasing his parents about it. They insist no one in their family immigrated from Vietnam or China to Laos. However, we suspect my husband’s grandparents (who are unfortunately deceased, so we can’t ask them).
I thought I was a quarter Polish, a quarter Finnish, and the rest German. My maternal grandpa swears up and down he’s full Polish, and is very proud of it. My maternal grandma says she’s full Finnish. My paternal grandpa swears he’s full German, and is proud of it. He also says my maternal grandma, who is deceased, was full German. I took the test and I am half Swedish and half Finnish, with a sprinkling of Irish. No Polish, no German. Sorry, grandpas.
It was a fun experience for us, made all the better by finding out neither of us are who we thought we were DNA-wise.
Devin Schmitt 10 hours ago
My wife's family myth is that they have native american and jewish ancestry. It turns out that her family has 0% native american and 0% jewish. I, on the other hand, have both.
#9
I Found My Dad After 34 Years
My twin sister and I finally found our dad after being lied to for 34 years. Our mom has always told us our real dad’s name is (fake name) John. She gave us his last name even though the paternity test came back negative shortly after we were born. This was confirmed by my aunts. We had to do a family tree project for school when we were little and she made us call our “dad’s” parents. They both started yelling at us that we weren’t there’s and told our mom to be truthful. She still kept up the lie for all these years. My sister called John when we were in our 20s and he also stated the test was negative and said sorry.
My sister decided to try ancestry.com 6 years ago. She never got any matches, but we continued to check it every so often. Something told me to check it last night and there it was.. a 20% match with an uncle or half brother from last week. We did some major digging and found who we thought was our half brother. Turns out the matches brother is our dad and remembers my mom. She never told him. I don’t know why she did it and she will never tell us. I’m happy we finally found him, but I also feel insanely stressed out right now. He’s super kind and very excited to meet us. He actually has another set of twin daughters 7 years younger than us so I’m excited about that as well. But I can’t help but feel leery and anxious. It’s completely consumed my sister and I since last night. I’m meeting him this weekend for coffee and a paternity test lol. I really hope it goes well. I’m so grateful for ancestry.com!
#10
My Dad Found Who His Dad Was After 52 Years
My dad is Vietnamese & black. His mother had 11 children with 3 different husbands. My dad was the only child she had with his dad. She had a one night stand with an American soldier during the Vietnam war so my dad never met his father. My dad grew up poor in the aftermath of the war, it was a lot of rubbish and he would walk the streets searching for food. He was bullied and teased a lot in school for looking different and having a darker skin tone.
He eventually is given the opportunity to move to America as they had a program for Amerasian children to come to America. He was able to bring his whole family even though he was the only one that was mixed.
Decades go by and my dad is busy working and caring for us (me and my siblings) but he always had a curiosity on trying to find his dad but didn’t know how. He meets a woman who is also an American Asian and a war baby. She has a program where she helps war babies reunite with their family. My dad does the dna test kit but it’s still a lot of family trees to go through. She helped us out a lot and got it down to his father’s mom. She did warn us to tread lightly because a lot of people will try to use this as a way to ask money or scam long lost family members. My mom was hesitant at first but she knew this was very important for my dad.
Eventually we were able to reach out to his father and met his wife and their side of the family, and we spent a lot of time with his dad. It was such an amazing experience. It meant a lot to my father, he would always tell me how lucky I was because he grew up with no dad. We were even luckier that he was able to reconnect while his father is still alive.
LakotaWolf (she/her) 8 hours ago
The musical Miss Saigon (incorrectly) uses the term bụi đời to refer to the Amerasian children of American servicemen/military and Vietnamese mothers. My dad was in the Air Force during the Vietnam war and spent several years there. I've often wondered if I have (non-genetic) siblings/family there :/ I never asked him before his accident, it didn't seem like a thing you could ask XD For as hokey as the musical Miss Saigon is, the song about the bụi đời had one very significant line: "We must remember... that they are all our children too."
#11
It Was All A Lie!
Growing up, I was the only one with blonde hair and blue eyes. Didn't give it much thought as a child . But people did tease me saying I was the milk man's daughter. The only man I knew as my father became aggressive and my parents divorced. He only wanted to have visitation with my little sister.
Fast forward 45 years, my daughter got me an Ancestry DNA test for Christmas about 2 years ago. Side note... by this time, my mother, father, grandma, aunt and uncle (who I was very close to) were all deceased. I was so excited to get the results back to see where the family came from and maybe lost relatives. My sister had a son and he had also submitted his DNA. Cool so far. Well last year, my sister's DNA finally gets added and I was shocked at the results. She's my half sister ! Soooo we have the same mother but different fathers. That explains the blonde hair and blue eyes.
At this point I'm kind of relieved that guy isn't my father. He was a real a--hole !! No one left in my family to tell me who my father may have been. They all went to their graves with the secret. This late in my life I really have no desire to find out who he is. In the meantime I just check Ancestry from time to time to see if any siblings pop up. I've heard of these things happening over the years but never thought it would be my story too. Apparently there are a lot of us in the same boat. Just be ready for the results if you choose to do the test.
#12
Found A Half Sister!
I did a dna test and got results around Christmas. I had a close family match (22%) with a woman I had never seen before. I messaged her, and she asked if I was also adopted. I’m not.
Turns out our dad and her mom met in an orphanage in the early 60s (I knew he was placed in a home for a bit) and she was born and given up. I do not believe he ever knew about her.
Anyway, we’re meeting for lunch next week! Wish me luck!
#13
Got My Results. I Share 3440cm DNA With A Man I've Never Met
They were listed as Parent/child. Within an hour of getting my results the person disappeared so I'm assuming I was blocked. I'm no contact with my mother for about 5 years now. I'm really struggling with the news and I have no idea how to figure out who this person is and how I'm going to tell my dad (the man who raised me). Any advice would be appreciated.
Update, I found out who my bio dad is. I went to talk to my father, the man who raised me, and he knew exactly who the person was. So pretty much I am the result of my 20 year old mother sleeping with a 16 year old coworker at a diner while my dad was working 2 jobs and in the army. He said his gut told him I wasn't his but he raised me as his anyways. I'm feeling alot better now.
random_froggg (she/they 86/47) 9 hours ago
Your mother statutory r***d her coworker? No wonder you’re no contact
#14
Covered In Tattoos Of An Ancestry My DNA Doesn't Align With
Found out my dad's father isn't his biological father through my matches. With that, I'm not as Irish as I thought lol. Only 6%. I'm from an area where Irish heritage is apart of the culture. I'm covered in Irish flags, Celtic god of war, all sorts of stuff. Turns out I'm actually french and Ashkenazi Jewish. I'm excited to learn about these new to me cultures. Pretty cool but yeah... Don't get tattoos kids. 🤣
#15
Turns Out My Sister Is My Mom… Now On The Hunt For My Bio-Dad
I recently took a DNA test because I recently discovered that the woman I believed my whole life to be my older sister is actually my biological mother. The people I’ve always known as my parents are, in reality, my grandparents. There is no father listed on my birth certificate, and I suspect my family may be withholding information about that side.
I also have a younger brother and an older sister, who, like me, turned out to be children of the woman we all believed was our older sister. None of our birth certificates list a father. Given our ages are just a year apart, she would have likely been between 13-16 or 14-17 years old when she had us.
So now I have some matches on ancestry but only second cousins from I am guessing my “fathers” side I have a lot of info filled with my mothers side. I am just terrible at researching on the app.
The Starsong Princess 10 hours ago
Three children between 13 and 17? Makes me wonder what was going on here.
#16
After 28 Years
Just wanted to share my story
Today I was contacted by the young lady that I said was my daughter since I was 14. Yeah I know I was young. But I never once thought other wise. I asked many times over the years for a paternity test but was just told over and over, she's not yours. What was a kid to do? After a few years my troubles forced me to move in order to finish high school. Although I visited my hometown often I rarely saw my daughters mother. Threw the last 28 years, every time we crossed paths I would tell her mother that I still believed she was my daughter. Of course she would say otherwise and that would be that. 4 or 5 years ago I had expressed to my wife that I wanted to do the Ancestry DNA test. She knew the reason. Well that was one of the gifts I received for Christmas that year. Not know if I would find anything or not but if I didn't my results would be there just in case. I followed her life threw the years as she grew up, graduated highschool, the college, and now in law school. Many will ask why I never approached her. I battled with myself often about it. The conclusion I came to was, how selfish it would be of me to turn a girl's world upsidedown, in her preteens, teens I felt it would be devastating. So I let her be. As she got older, I felt it was even harder to approach again feeling selfish. About to destroy what she knew as truth. That's what led me to Ancestry DNA, it was gaining popularity and I thought it was my best chance for her to find out on her own and then decide what to do with that information. Well, she did just that and I got the confirmation I have been waiting 28 years for. First a text message telling me who she was and what she had found out. But she wasn't expecting me to know who she was or that I whole heartedly knew she was my daughter. We text back and forth for a few hours then we had our first phone call. I tell you it was amazing. Although I missed out on so much by putting myself last, I'm hopeful to grow an amazing relationship in the future.
TheReader19 9 hours ago
Random frog, if someone asks you the child is theirs and the mother continously says no; what exactly can they do?
#17
Found My Birth Mother - And A Family She Didn't Know Existed!
I thought some people here might be interested in the unintended consequences of looking for your bio family on Ancestry.
I (F/61) am adopted and have always known that. A couple of my kids did the ancestry test and found some semi-close matches. Their father is also adopted so they persuaded me to do the test myself to figure out what matches were on my side.
My closest match was a grand-aunt or half aunt in England. I wrote to her last April and told her my birth mother's name but she hadn't heard of it so we tried to work out if she and I were related through my birth father. Lots of emails later, we figured out the most likely connection was that she had a half-sister (my mother) she didn't know about. She and her brother (my half-uncle) were pretty upset at first but in the end she and her daughter (my half-cousin) have been as wonderful as they could be, sending me photos and texts via Whatsapp every week or so.
In the meantime my youngest son did some sleuthing through other matches and historical records and located my birth mother in New Zealand. He got us connected through her son (my half-brother) and she was thrilled I'd reached out. We emailed at first to start to get to know each other. The only thing I really knew about her at this point apart from her name was that she had a half-sister in England she probably wasn't aware of - so I introduced them.
After several phonecalls, they figured out that my birth mother's mother and my half-aunt's father lived close at the time my mother was born (1940s) and that there was a connection between the two families (along the lines of he was the milkman). My birth mother had a hard time believing it until she took the ancestry test herself to confirm.
Sooo - now I not only have a new family on two counts, but I brought unexpected relatives along for the ride. Amazing what sending off your cheek swab can uncover!
#18
I’m Envious Of Those With Famous Ancestors. All I Have Is Inbreeding
Makes it impossible to discern who is related to me in what way because of multiple instances of widows marrying their brother-in-laws, multiple husbands and multiple kids but not knowing which husband (or brother) they belonged to, having great-grandmothers who were sisters.
To add insult to injury, every family member had up to six given names (I myself was given two middle names), but only being referred to by a nickname that didn’t match any of their legal ones.
The Starsong Princess 10 hours ago
Have a little sympathy. Women who married their brother in law after their first husband died did it to avoid poverty as it was very hard to make it on their own. Marrying someone from the family increased the chances that the children would be well treated instead of pushed aside for new children.
#19
Ancestry Found Me A Sibling
I bought myself and my husband ancestry kits for Christmas and mine came back very odd. I shared 25% dna with someone I’d never heard of. Come to find out he’s my half brother. I still haven’t met him yet but we are in touch. Such a crazy thing to learn at 50
#20
Should I Ignore Her?
I recently received a message from a women wanting to know if we are related (I did the ancestry DNA test). I know exactly who she is. My grandma gave her up for adoption & later on regretted it deeply, she would confide in me about this all the time. The thing is, my grandma (her mom), grandpa (her dad), my mom and aunt passed away (her sisters) I have nothing 4 her, just me. Isn’t it better for her to live with whatever fantasy she made up in her head? Selfishly, I want to tell her and finally have someone for me. I’ve been so lonely since the women in my family died. I’m torn. I don’t know what to do
Michele Ferretto 12 hours ago
This is just plain stupid. She already contacted you. Everybody else passed away. Just tell her FFS!
#21
Family Secret Was Me
My wife during covid asked me to spit in a cup and now I have 5 matches. Me and my brother were put up for adoption at 7 and 5 together our other brother at 3 stayed. I got a match with my mother's side she has 500 people on her tree. I thought it was strange she didn't reach out after 4 months so I reached out to her. She said she never heard of me and my brother but would ask her family. She got back to me to tell me my mother didn't want to move forward. I find it strange people can't face what they did but there family has something to talk about now anyway. The black kids auntie gave up. Why don't you think she wants us on her family tree?
#22
My Wife Finally Had DNA Extracted After 4 Failed Attempts.. Drama Ensues
After a year of spitting into tubes, scraping cheeks, and waiting for DNA results, my wife finally got a sample that worked. Both my dad and her dad were adopted, so we were a little nervous that we might somehow be related. My wife was convinced that God didn’t want us to know her results, given all the delays and complications.
When the results finally came in, we were relieved to find out we’re not related. But there was something immediately interesting in her matches. She had connections to both her birth parents' sides, which was a surprise because her dad has no history of his birth family. He knows he was born in the same state we live in now, but that’s about it—nothing more is known about his biological background.
Intrigued, my grandpa, who is a bit of an ancestry wizard, started digging into family trees. What he found was shocking. It turns out that my mother-in-law’s grandpa is actually my father-in-law’s great-grandpa. This discovery completely blew our minds, and it would undoubtedly devastate her parents if they ever found out. For that reason, we’ve decided we’ll never share this information with them.
#23
Found Out My Step-Uncle Is Actually My Dad Thanks To An Ancestry DNA Test – Not Sure How To Process It
I recently decided to do an Ancestry DNA test, hoping to find some answers about my biological father’s side. I grew up knowing who I thought was my dad, but only for a few years before my mum remarried (I was about 5). My “dad” never knew his own father, and there was this mystery around one of my grandparents that bugged me. I figured maybe I’d find a DNA match that could help connect some dots.
When the results came back, I was shocked. I matched with someone on my stepdad’s side – his cousin, specifically. I couldn’t work it out for a few days and assumed it must be some strange coincidence. Maybe the mystery grandparent I’d been curious about was actually my step-grandfather? It was confusing, to say the least.
Eventually, I reached out to my mum, even though we don’t have the best relationship. I asked if she thought it was possible my step-grandfather could actually be my real grandfather.
Then my mum dropped a bombshell. Turns out, my mother had an affair with my stepdad’s brother, some years prior to her getting together with my step-dad. So, my “stepdad” is actually my uncle, and his brother – who I always thought of as my “step-uncle” – is actually my biological dad. In one revelation, the man I’ve always wondered about, who I thought was my biological father, turned out not to be related to me at all. My half-brother is actually my three-quarters brother, and my four “step-cousins” are actually my half-siblings.
My mum’s asked me to keep it quiet because it would cause issues in the family if this came out. Now I’m stuck in this bizarre situation where everything I thought I knew is suddenly different, and I’m supposed to just sit on it and carry on like nothing’s changed. I honestly don’t know what to do with this information.
Anagram margana 10 hours ago
Tell everyone. It’s the honest thing to do. They all have the right to know.
#24
Just Found Out My Husband Is My 4th Cousin
I just found out my husband of 17 years is my 4th cousin.
random_froggg (she/they 86/47) 8 hours ago
If it’s any consolation, it will matter very little DNA wise. Even siblings or cousins having children doesn’t change DNA much the first generation. It’s multiple generations of inbreeding that causes the problems. Not trying to defend incest, not at all. Just saying what I know
#25
30 Year Secret Uncovered
Ive always been the guy who says, "I dont want to give the government my DNA" As I came to terms knowing if they truly wanted MY DNA, they'd have it by now. Lol
I decided to go for it because my curiosity got the best of me. My wife, has a long history of their family. At Family reunions they share and go through 100's of years of their ancestors so, I almost didnt buy one for her.
There was a 2for1 special at the time so, I went ahead and ordered 2. We both began playing around with our Family Tree's based on the information we knew was true. We never expected anything crazy to come about this.
She gets Her mom and Dad down, and keep in mind her father passed away at 10 years old. It always been just her Mother and her older sister and older brother.
Her DNA Results begin to become analyzed and everything on her fathers side begins to flip to "Step-Father." We go through and try to figure out what we messed up but, the strange thing is her closest family tree is a person she has never heard of before. Her results fully come back and still, its holding to step father. We put it down for a few days.
Her family knows we are going through this process and all seem very excited, yet standoffish.
Her brother, who hasnt been around in the last 20 years much due to being in out of jail. She gets a text at 9 am on Monday from him saying "Will you be free to talk this afternoon?" She reluctantly says yes not knowing what it could possibly be this time.
We got on the phone and this guy just RIPS the bandaid off and tells her his father is not actually there father..
She doesnt really buy into due to him being strung out 24-7. I go to the other room, call her sister and it's all true..
A few days later we get the full truth. Her mother had an affair outside of their marriage. The other guy wanted no part. Her FATHER, says keep my name on the birth certificate and we take this to the grave..
Well AncestryDNA uncovered a 30 year secret that she may not of ever been told.
#26
My Dad Isn't My Dad, My Stepdad Is
I grew up with two fathers. They were childhood friends because of their parents and my Dad and Mom let my step-dad stay in our basement while he got custody of his kids (my older siblings). My dad left my mom when I was two and she always told me he cheated on her. Both my dad and step-dad are my father in my heart. They both raised me, I just never thought my step-dad could be my actual father and his kids have always been my siblings. Nothing changes that but I don't know how to handle this.
#27
I Found Out I Am 1 Of 13
And most of my siblings have been in touch.
I’m just sitting here feeling like I had the weirdest dream ever. I went from knowing nothing to know everything and I don’t know if I should cry or fall asleep. I’ve seen a picture of most of them . I had never seen a single person that looks like me and now I’ve looked at most of their faces. I’ve never been close to my adoptive family and they were abusive. Some of my sisters have been looking for me and are ready with open arms and already have a close relationship built. I could sob.
#28
Two Anthropologists From Australia Found The Connection To Me In America
I was working on figuring out (to my best ability) the origins of distant generations. One day an anthropologist from Australia reached out because I was a distant match to her husband.
I was an outlier as the only American in their own studies. They didn't even have many real life American connections. We worked together. She sent me a ton of information and data only professionals could put together.
It turns out we did share ancestry! We found the exact point our lineages lined diverged. This connection validated many distant generations! It was crazy, so much information snowballed.
Their ancestor ended up in Australia. My relative ended up landing in America. Two brothers landing in two separate continents where they became the progenitors of their own separate lineages.
#29
The Fabled Cherokee Indian Princess
Yup. Grew up with this rumor but never got any details. Did my DNA and not a lick of indigenous.
Well lo and behold, I was researching a specific line and discovered my great-grandfather was born on an Ojibwa reservation in Canada. (Which could not happen if at least one of the parents was not indigenous.)
Just goes to show it's not always a rumor! (And also that you can lose DNA genetics pretty quickly.)
#30
Found My Biological Father Accidentally At Age 60
I'm almost 60 yrs old and found my biological father through Ancestry. I reached out via phone, never expecting him to answer - who has a landline anymore?? - but answer he did. Now I feel like I disturbed this poor old 80 yr old man who knew nothing of this. I feel pretty guilty about disturbing his peace for something I'm not even sure I wanted to know. How do others cope with this kind of information?
#31
DNA Surprise A Bit Unusual Here
My wife is very involved with genealogy and history. We travel all over the US to see where her ancestors settled, once finding a 300 year old log cabins buried under heavy brush.
She led us up a dirt road several hours for miles in West Virginia where her Rucker ancestors charged toll to go over their property into today’s West Virginia.
One day, ancestry notified me that a DNA match through my Herndon 2x ggf led to another Herndon—married to a Rucker. I was excited to go back a few generations and discovered those new ancestors were already in the tree.
Then I discovered a big surprise that shouldn’t have been one.
My wife and I are full blown 6th cousins.
The Starsong Princess 10 hours ago
Not a big deal. You shared 5x great grandparents, that’s seven generations back.If you and your spouse have families from the same area, you are likely related to that degree.
#32
My Dad...isn't
I found out last night that i am not actually biologically related to the man that's been my dad for the full 50 years of my life.
None of his people are on my paremt 2 dna, instead it's full of the people related tona guy my mom dated briefly while my parents were broken up for a while.
#33
Is This What We Think It Is?
My husband and I both uploaded our DNA to ancestry about a year ago - we’ve both enjoyed seeing our family members pop up and seeing distant matches with vaguely familiar surnames get connected to us. We did find it odd when his origins results came back without any German - something his grandfather was proud of.
Recently, we helped my husband’s maternal grandfather complete the DNA kit. He texted us saying that his results were in - and he was enjoying reading the origin stories and exploring the traits part of the app… awesome! Or so we thought.
The problem is that he never connected to my husband. Grandpa hasn’t put two and two together yet, but it is making us question some things about whether he is biologically my mother in law’s father.
We got the results back for Grandpa around March. The match should’ve been immediate for a relationship that close, right? When I got my results back, my grandmother was already part of my family tree and I could see her DNA immediately.
Any clarification would be helpful! To my husband, this changes very little if anything - it just might help with some health history information.
#34
Traced A DNA Strand Back To My Father... Not Sure He Knows
Context: Never had a father in my life, luckily don't miss one and my Mum had a (very?) short term relationship / lovely evening with him. Ahem. She passed away young about 20 years ago and didn't know / pass on his name. I think he knew about me, but was told the baby (me), wasnt his....
About 10 years ago, I did a DNA test but only recently started looking for clues. Didn't 100% know his name but had a great great great grandfather DNA match through other matches. Well, it took a few hours, as had to go down each and every daughter / son line from about 1870. So many children - one far flung aunt had 11 children! But, by process of elimination, traced it back. Now have a name / address / maybe photos (thanks Company House and Facebook. Scary.) and a whole other paternal family out there. Geography / timings / dna matches make sense. Unfortunately, it's fairly rocket-proof.
I'm not gonna destroy their peace with a letter or appearing out of the blue, even if invited. This is what can destroy a family - God knows how his wife and kids would feel. I do, however, have a child, who may feel differently if they found out that I didn't at least try to contact their grandfather / uncles / aunts / cousins etc as they have a right to a family too.
Oh boy. I'm just happy because i know, 45 years of wondering now at rest. But, if i know - should others now know? What if it all goes wrong, but also - what if it goes right? Another offer of Xmas dinner, lovely :) Oh boy.
What do you think ?
Barbara Liles 10 hours ago
I did the 23andMe test just out of curiosity. My mother’s side was exactly what I expected. On my father’s side? I think pants were just an idea, and not really necessary.
Michele Ferretto 12 hours ago
How peculiar that ALL those people used Ancestry and absolutely NO ONE used a competitor like MyHeritage or 23andme... just like this wasn't a REAL thread, but only an advertisement (without the clear disclaimer though...)
LakotaWolf (she/her) 8 hours ago
It's not an advertisement for Ancestry, it's a bunch of different posts from the Ancestry subreddit XD So yeah, no one is going to be talking about their 23andMe stories on the Ancestry subreddit, there's probably a 23andMe subreddit for those :p Not everything is "omg corporate shill advertising!" - Bored Panda just happened to steal all of these posts from the Ancestry subreddit.
Load More Replies...
LakotaWolf (she/her) 8 hours ago
I've known I was adopted at birth since I was 6 years old. It was the 80s so we didn't have DNA testing available commercially - you had to go on what your family told you about ethnicity XD All we had for me was "your bio dad had red hair" and "your bio mom's last name is McKittrick" and the fact that I'm pale af, so we assumed Scottish/Irish. I did 23AndMe decades ago and (unsurprisingly, lol) matched with one of my bio sisters XD I've got lots of family in Iowa and I always meant to go and visit (I'm not ashamed of being adopted) but stupid life stuff keeps happening :( So yeah, I matched with a bio sister I already knew I had XD
Barbara Liles 10 hours ago
I did the 23andMe test just out of curiosity. My mother’s side was exactly what I expected. On my father’s side? I think pants were just an idea, and not really necessary.
Michele Ferretto 12 hours ago
How peculiar that ALL those people used Ancestry and absolutely NO ONE used a competitor like MyHeritage or 23andme... just like this wasn't a REAL thread, but only an advertisement (without the clear disclaimer though...)
LakotaWolf (she/her) 8 hours ago
It's not an advertisement for Ancestry, it's a bunch of different posts from the Ancestry subreddit XD So yeah, no one is going to be talking about their 23andMe stories on the Ancestry subreddit, there's probably a 23andMe subreddit for those :p Not everything is "omg corporate shill advertising!" - Bored Panda just happened to steal all of these posts from the Ancestry subreddit.
Load More Replies... LakotaWolf (she/her) 8 hours ago
I've known I was adopted at birth since I was 6 years old. It was the 80s so we didn't have DNA testing available commercially - you had to go on what your family told you about ethnicity XD All we had for me was "your bio dad had red hair" and "your bio mom's last name is McKittrick" and the fact that I'm pale af, so we assumed Scottish/Irish. I did 23AndMe decades ago and (unsurprisingly, lol) matched with one of my bio sisters XD I've got lots of family in Iowa and I always meant to go and visit (I'm not ashamed of being adopted) but stupid life stuff keeps happening :( So yeah, I matched with a bio sister I already knew I had XD
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