Anyone who watches TV programmes such as “Who Do You Think You Are” (BBC1), “Long Lost Family” (ITV) or “DNA Family Secrets” (BBC2) are there for the human-interest story. Very little of the science is explained or how much analysis and work went on in the background to find answers. The following stories are real and based on my research completed in 2023 and good examples of all the complications and intricacies of genetic genealogy and family life. In the end you gain new genetic relatives but you can end up losing a few of your cousins too! For privacy reasons, all the names have been changed.
Case 1:
Every now and again, I check branches of my family tree on Ancestry that traditionally do not have much information, to see if anyone new is researching that line. You can’t always find close cousins through outreach, even on social media, so you just never know if one of them has started looking into our family too! I came across one of my cousins named in an unfamiliar tree and messaged that researcher. Not expecting any reply, I was very surprised to hear back. Apparently, “Jane” the daughter of my cousin, was a match to the researcher’s wife and daughter on another testing database. Jane was a third cousin to me on paper, so had a good chance of being a match to me on that database. I did not know she had even tested, having declined many years ago. Having fifteen or more cousins on the same database as Jane, all of whom should have matched her, it became clear there was a mystery behind the reason I was unaware of her test. She was simply not of my family.
At around the same time and totally independently, “Kate” the daughter of Jane approached me for help to find her father. Kate was estranged from her mother and had not been told who her biological father was. Immediately, there was a tricky issue of keeping related areas of research confidential to each of the parties.
Kate’s case turned out to be very straightforward. I recommend she started by testing with Ancestry, the world’s largest DNA database, to see if we could produce any relatives to help identify her father. It was worth the 2-3 month waiting time for Kate’s result as we had an instant hit; a half-brother. The result confirmed that she was not of my family, just like her mother. The half-brother was delighted that his DNA had helped someone find his family and the two sides were put in touch. Within a few days, Kate (who already had a number of siblings and half-siblings on her mother’s side) found that their number had tripled, as there were another eight on her biological father’s side. She was able to meet her biological father the following weekend. Case solved!
Having Kate’s DNA on Ancestry meant that it became quite clear early on that there were several close cousins on her mother’s side pointing to another biological family other than my own, and one person in particular “X,” now deceased. It helped that this biological family had a very unusual family name, so it was not a difficult task to isolate that family or find researchers. Fortunately, several genetic cousins on that side were also very helpful in confirming the family tree and were equally keen to reconnect with new family. All this supported the initial findings for Jane’s DNA on the smaller database where she had tested and why everyone was matching each other in relation to X.
At the time, Jane’s father “Ben” had not DNA tested, but his younger half-brother “Bill” had. Bill’s result showed him to be of my family, so we knew his result provided a legitimate line back along this branch of my family for the first time. As Ben had been born just four months after his parent’s marriage in the 1930’s, it became clear Ben’s mother had been carrying another man’s child up the aisle; belonging to “X”. After Ben’s mother died when he was young, his father remarried and had Bill. When Jane’s family were briefed on the findings it emerged that Ben (now nearly 90) always thought that the manner of his upbringing meant he never felt he was his father’s child. So even at this late stage in his life he was delighted to have an explanation and know who his biological father was.
As a result of this, several of Jane’s siblings and her father, Ben, also tested to add their DNA to the mix to prove beyond all doubt that my once on paper cousins now had their biological origins with X. With that case solved, it has been left to the genetic cousins within X’s wider family to finalise matters and rewrite their family trees. For Ben, it also the meant the unexpected discovery of a half-sister who was still alive.
Case 2:
“Pat” was a distant cousin on paper down another branch of my family tree. Her nearest tested cousin on that branch “Dave” did not match her. Both were so far down the branch (beyond fourth cousins) that genetic distance was a big factor is trying to prove where the problem lay. The issue remained unresolved for more than five years simply due to the lack of data. During 2023, new testers in my family provided DNA matches to Dave, so we could finally include him as a DNA-proven cousin. Therefore, it was highly likely there was a genetic break down Pat’s side branch. But where?
Focussing on Pat’s ancestry and what was missing genetically, the solution was provided by two new close DNA matches within family “Y” (again with a distinctive family name) in Pat’s great grandmother’s hometown. The amount of DNA shared indicated that Pat’s grandfather, an only child, was not of my family line and became extinct at that point.
Summary:
Even though both branches are now removed from my family tree (losing about 20 on-paper cousins), they did show how much can be done with a few simple DNA tests to underpin your family tree with genetic evidence. Certainly, it proves the maxim that “DNA never lies” and you should not take the paper trail at face value.
Sometimes the answer waits for you to find it, as in Case 1, and at other times you have to wait for the right results to appear, as in Case 2. There were really only winners since everyone had an answer and could connect with their real families thanks to DNA.