A routine DNA test for a family tree project shattered one woman's world. The man she called father for 26 years was not her biological father. In a Reddit post, user Riembis shared how her mother built a family tree through DNA testing, and encouraged her to take one to gather more information.
However, when the test results came back, she was shocked. The woman wrote: 'My mother put together our family tree and did DNA tests for my grandparents on her side and one for my father.
“My dad's ethnic results looked interesting so I wanted to see what mine would be like. My mom encouraged us to do one and all was going well while waiting for the results. I'm just building my family tree, which was quite fascinating The part where I realized I had messed up taking the test.
“The results came two days ago. I'm looking through my DNA matches. To my surprise, no one from my father's side shows up there. My father doesn't show up there.” Instead of seeing her father's name, she was shown “a man” she had never heard of, with whom she shared 50 percent DNA.
She added: “[There were] several other people I've never heard of, with whom I share up to 25 percent of DNA. The other half of the people I know, about 25 percent of the DNA, matches my grandparents. I look up my father's ethnic origin: 20 percent Balcan.
See the message here:
TIFU by taking a DNA test
byu/riembis intifu
“That doesn't show up at all in mine. It seems like my mom has no idea about this. Today someone messaged me to share our family trees. I'm so confused and have no idea how to proceed My parents seem to have a solid story about when and where I was conceived.”
The woman decided to confront her mother about it. “My mom came over today and we finally talked. I started by saying I got my results back and just gave her the tablet with the site,” she added. “Her first reaction when she opened it was the same one I get when I hear something disturbing/weird/etc – the 'Oh f*** awkward and scared grin'.
“I then asked her to explain how this could happen. She said she had her suspicions that it could be 50/50 who the father is, but hoped for a different outcome. Apparently she did have an affair. He's 18 years old, so clearly hasn't had any other serious relationships before that. At first it started as a friendship, but this guy developed intense feelings for her and was very persuasive, so things happened.
She says her mother enjoyed the attention and her father “freaked out” after noticing she was planning something “vague.” She said: “The sideshow ended. She had no contact with him after that. In any case, she was open to telling my father about it. After some thought and talking to my friend, his insight, since my father knew about the case, was that he wouldn't want to know this kind of information in his place, which I think is a good point.
“Another piece of information I got from my mother is that she and my father have had a less romantic and more of an equitable friendship relationship for some time now.”
Her post quickly went viral on Reddit, with several users leaving their reactions in the comments section.
One user commented: “The fact that your mother encouraged you to take the test means she probably wanted to have this conversation with you.”
Another user added: “Since your mother was okay with you getting the test I think there is something more wrong here. I would talk to your mother and see if you were donor conceived or if they did IVF treatment. It's possible they were told never to tell you about any treatment, which was pretty standard in the 80s/90s. There's no way they would have encouraged you to get tested if there was of an affair, that would be crazy.'
A third user said: “It certainly wouldn't hurt to have a second one done, just to make sure there's no confusion (if you can afford it). To avoid any unnecessary drama with the family, I would go talk to your mom privately and see what she has to say. Maybe your dad knows and maybe he doesn't, so don't freak out if you don't have to. Good luck with that. It must be a bit of a shock for you.”
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