A young woman who wanted to learn more about her family background claims she was “traumatized” after taking a $100 AncestryDNA test.
The 23-year-old from the US was excited before revealing the results she had waited eight weeks for, but was left with more questions than answers.
She claims she is not biologically related to the man she thought was her father.
“Everything I ever thought I knew about myself and who I am was a loss,” she wrote on Reddit.
‘There were so many questions running through my head. The most important question is: “Why did I recognize that last name? Who is my biological father?”
The 23-year-old from the US was excited before revealing the results she had waited eight weeks for, but was instead left with more questions than answers (stock image)
While looking at the results in the Ancestry app, the woman saw names she didn’t recognize.
‘I clicked on the second highest match that showed up, and that was for my father’s side. Her bio included her parents’ names, and I vaguely recognized her father’s last name,” the post continued.
‘I called my mother and asked her very calmly if she had ever slept with someone with the last name I recognized. She told me that she and my father were on a break one day, so she went to the campfire at the house for someone with that last name.
“She never expected that I wouldn’t be my father’s child because they soon got back together, this was a one-off.
“
The woman continued to spiral as she delved deeper into the history of who her real father was.
“Everything I ever thought I knew about myself and who I am was a loss,” she wrote on Reddit (stock image)
‘I remembered that last name as a friend of my father, they grew up together. They used to party together. When I lived at home, we lived less than five minutes apart,” she continued.
‘I remember seeing my dad dressed up one Saturday, I asked where he was going and it was to his friend’s funeral.
“That’s why I recognized the last name in her Ancestry biography. From that day on I went into a bit of a downward spiral because everything was so hard to process. I maniacally quit my job after leaving in the middle of my shift.
“Although I knew at the time that this was not a wise decision, I felt like I was being held down by a weight and that I had to find a way out of that building to relieve that feeling.”
The DNA test raised even more questions among the young women, who wondered if she had any other siblings, if her biological father would have wanted to know her and if there were any relatives.
‘I’m his only child, I look so much like him it’s almost uncanny. I have his eyes, his cheeks, his chin, his nose. Growing up, I never thought I favored anyone in the family, and I wondered where my brown eyes came from,” the post continued.
A year passed and the woman contacted her biological aunt and the two have met several times since.
‘We only live seven minutes apart! I am grateful for the relationship I have with her and the rest of the family. I still have plenty of people to meet, but I’m taking it relatively easy. “I met my paternal grandmother a few weeks ago, she is a character,” she said.
“I’m still healing from this every day, and not a day goes by that I don’t think about what my birth father would be like here on earth.”
The devastating news resonated with others who had experienced similar situations.
‘This happened to me four years ago.
I found out that not only do I have a different father, but he is Hispanic and has three other children,” one person wrote.
“These kits should come with genetic counseling if needed, included in the $100,” said another.
‘I just experienced this. It’s a very surreal feeling. The person you thought was your father all your life turns out not to be your father. It brings with it a feeling of indescribable discomfort. I hope you find peace with all of this in the coming months,” a third wrote.
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