Yahoo Lifestyle 17 Massive Family Secrets That Got Exposed All Because People Took An Ancestry Test
Recently, Reddit user u/Kobk22 asked, "What’s a family secret that was revealed by a family DNA history website?"
And wow, I never imagined an ancestry test could have such scandalous results. Here are the shocking family secrets people discovered:
1."A family member had murdered someone in the '70s and left behind some DNA. They were able to link him to the crime a few years ago because someone somewhere in the extended family had done one of those tests. He pled guilty and died in prison."
2."My grandfather (dad’s side) had a wife and three kids that he abandoned sometime in the '50s. Turns out my dad had siblings after all."
3."I grew up thinking I was Japanese and found out my mom was Korean. She was born in Japan, and I have met aunts, uncles, and cousins from Japan. They all have Japanese names and 0% Japanese DNA. My grandma was born in 1935, and I don't know where she was born. She and I were very close, and she didn't ask if she knew she was Korean."
4."My partner's family practiced a significant amount of incest just a few generations ago."
5."My mom's grandfather invented a new identity for himself between New York and Phoenix. DNA found relatives on the east coast that carry the same male line and they have one last name. Relatives in the west have a totally different name."
6."I was brought up to believe that my two aunties were sisters who lived together after both their husbands died in World War 2. Only one was a blood relative, and neither had been married to a man in their lives."
7."Descendants of my great-great-great-grandmother are not genetically related to her father on record. They are, however, related to one of his servants."
8."My great grandparents on my dad's side were straight-up kidnapped from a reservation in North Dakota when they were little kids. Turns out my great-grandparents on mom's side were also taken from their families by the church. We never found out who kidnapped them as kids, but we did find my extended family."
9."My great aunt had a baby that was put up for adoption that no one ever knew about. Unfortunately, that baby had grown old and passed before the testing, but we did match up with her daughter."
10."I found out my dad had a first wife when he was 19, and she died. They had three kids and put them up for adoption because he was poor and joined the Navy. I found out only a few years before he died. One of his grandchildren contacted me. He at least was able to talk to two of his kids before he died. One of them had passed away."
11."I was told my whole life my great-grandmother was fully Indigenous. I did 23andMe, and I have zero percent Indigenous blood, but I'm 60% Irish. Also, I found out I have a much younger half-sister who is Korean (50%) on bio father's side. I assume she is also 50% Irish. Quite the shocker for me."
12."I had a friend find out he had a 27-year-old daughter from a college fling that never told him about it. He ended up going to her wedding."
13."My grandmother’s family was white-passing. I have African ancestry."
14."I did one on ancestry test about ten years ago. I found a 'first cousin' who I didn't recognize. I asked my mum about it, and a few hours later, she called me and explained I was conceived by a sperm donor. So, my dad, who raised me, isn't my biological father. It hasn't changed my relationship with my parents at all. I didn't feel any different than I did before I knew (if anything, it made me feel a bit more special). I reached out to the half-sibling (who had appeared as a 1st cousin as the rough % of shared DNA is the same for both), but he never replied. I expect I have other half-siblings out there, so it will be interesting to see if any pop up on the ancestry website in the future!"
15."My great grandparent was adopted and mixed race. We always thought we were just a bunch of white people. Turns out we have some Asian DNA too."
16."My uncle by marriage is 70 years old, and due to 23andMe, he found out he has three brothers and two sisters that live 10 miles down the road from him. He also found out his dad wasn’t his biological father. Quite the gut punch to find out at his age."
17.And finally, "My dad and his twin were adopted (not a secret), and after they died, I started doing research to learn about their biological family. My Ancestry DNA results connected me to the family of my high school best friend. I got back in touch with them and their family, hired a genealogist, and got my hands on my dad’s original birth certificate. Through all of that, it was revealed that my high school best friend’s grandmother had a secret pregnancy when she was 21 after having an affair with a married man. She went into hiding at a convent, gave birth, gave the boys up for adoption, and returned to her family with no one ever knowing what she had been through. She went on to get married and have her family, who never knew about the twins. She died in 2012 before any of this was discovered, but I met her a few times when I was in high school. So my high school best friend and I unknowingly shared a grandma."
Submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
What shocking family secrets did you learn after you took an ancestry test? Tell us in the comments of use this Google Form if you want to be anonymous.
