DNA is a wonderful tool, especially when used to answer genealogical questions. However, it should come with a warning label attached, because the test taker may uncover a long lost family secret, which may blow them and their family out of the water!
A couple of years ago Ancestry.com had an advertising campaign to sell their DNA kits. This advertisement they aired on webpages and in traditional media, had a man who was dressed in lederhosen, who said he was so proud of his German heritage. His DNA results showed he was Scottish and now he was embracing this “new” heritage. The ad ends showing the man wearing a kilt and holding a bagpipe. People were fascinated by the notion of learning more about their ethnic heritage and purchased DNA kits….in fact, for a while they were a very popular gift to give a loved one.
Today Ancestry’s DNA database is one of the largest DNA databases out there. This is really awesome, especially if you are hoping to find birth parents or grandparents of an adopted person. However, it can be a shock to someone who had taken a DNA test a few years back to learn about their ethnic heritage, and now they are getting messages from a stranger saying DNA indicates you are my dad!
I belong to several DNA Facebook pages. Here people can ask for help understanding DNA results, discuss their DNA brick walls and ask how they should proceed with their research, or to find a Search Angel to help them. However, very often these sites are a place for people to share their experiences and surprises. Some are folks who took the test to hopefully discover their birth family, some are folks who just discovered their dad is not their dad, and others share their experiences reaching out and meeting long lost family. So many of these stories are heart wrenching, either because of a wonderful new connection or because of a horrible rejection.
When Ancestry.com began offering DNA test kits as a tool to learn about an ethnic background, or perhaps answer a genealogical question, or break down a brick wall, they may have not realized the possible can of worms they might open for their customers. A recent posting on at least two FaceBook pages that I belong to, was from a test taker who had been told long ago, they were not their father’s child. After dad’s death the test taker took a DNA test with their sibling and discovered they were 100% siblings! Hooray! Her dad WAS her dad! Dad may never know, but at least the family knows! Fast forward a few years and the test taker took an Ancestry DNA test to further their research….and guess what? None of the results showed a familiar paternal line, but listed a bunch of unknown surnames. Indicating that dad was not the birth dad. This meant that neither, the test taker nor their sibling were the children of the man that raised them. The test taker now had an interesting dilemma….tell mom and sib the truth….or keep it a secret, as they felt neither could handle the truth. Respondents on one page recommended they keep the secret, and those on another page felt is was more important to take a few more DNA tests (including other relatives) before they jumped to a possibly wrong conclusion.
If you are a genealogist suggesting a client take a DNA test to help further your research to answer your client’s research question, you should most definitely discuss all the possible implications of this test, as it may lead to surprise information that could be upsetting. If you are someone who wants to take a DNA test to confirm your ethnicity, be warned, you too may find an upsetting surprise. It could be anything from a new genetic relative who is searching for their birth family, to a whole new branch of your tree because a parent or grandparent is not the biological child of one of their parents!
WARNING: So if you are wanting to take a DNA test…..proceed with caution!
Laurie L. Kearney 