Unexpected results
From ISOGG Wiki
Some people get unexpected results from a DNA test. They might have a match with a previously unknown close relative. Conversely the close relative they are supposed to match does not appear in their match list.
Contents
Support groups
There are a number of support groups which can help people who get unexpected results from a DNA test:
- Facebook DNA NPE Gateway Group A gateway group to a community which provides emotional support "for those who were surprised to learn through a genealogical DNA test that their parent(s) is confirmed to NOT be their biological parent(s)".
- DNA secrets A Facebook group set up by Wayne Cedric Bell.
- CeCe Moore and Watershed DNA host a secret support group on Facebook
- The Donor Conception Network (UK) can offer support for people who have discovered through DNA testing that they are donor conceived and can provide referrals to qualified counsellors. See also our page on Support and information for donor-conceived people (UK focus)
- NPE Fellowship A group which provides "emotional, educational, and practical support to those who have discovered that one or both parents were not their biological parent(s)".
- MPE Counselling Collective
- DNA Surprises Support Group
Further reading
- ‘He was horrific!’: Nearly two thirds of family historians are distressed by what they find – should DNA kits come with warnings? by Susan Moore. The Conversation, 27 June 2023.
- Genetic mapping by Emma Gilchrist. MaisonNeuve, 12 April 2021.
- A DNA kit and a genetic identity shift Interview with Alesia Cohen Weiss from Right to Know. Published online June 2021.
- After a DNA surprise 10 things no one wants to hear by B K Jackson, Severance, 19 June 2019.
- Truth: a love story. A scientist discovers his own family secrets by Stuart Schreiber, Harvard Magazine, July/August 2019.
- The death of the family secret by Jeffrey Young, HuffPost US, 14 June 2019.
- “I thought I was misreading something”: Ellie took a DNA test and it exposed her mum's affair by Shona Hendley, MamaMia, 4 April 2019.
- 'Your father's not your father': when DNA tests reveal more than you bargained for by Elle Hunt, The Guardian, 18 September 2019.
- How ancestry databases are changing modern families by Rebecca Fishwick, DNA Testing Choice, 8 January 2019.
- Growth of ancestry DNA testing risks huge increase in paternity issues by Maarten Larmuseau. Nature Human Behaviour 2019; 3, 5.
- The Christmas present that could tear your family apart by Lucy Ash. BBC News Stories, 20 December 2018.
- Surprise DNA results are turning customer-service reps into therapists by Kristen Brown, Bloomberg News, 19 December 2018.
- 20 of the most shocking DNA test discoveries exposed by Kelly Bryant, Reader's Digest, published online on 29 October 2018.
- Dear Prudence: Help! My husband just learned his family’s biggest secret through a DNA test. 24 September 2018.
- When a DNA test reveals your daughter is not your biological child by Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 12 October 2018.
- Interview with Catherine St Clair, the founder of the DNA NPE Facebook group Today show, 7 September 2018.
- How to handle shocking DNA test results, according to experts Genetic counselor Brianne Kirkpatrick and family psychologist Jennifer Harstein talk to Megyn Kelly on the Today program. 7 September 2018.
- Letters: my dad was not my biological father. The Atlantic, 18 August 2018. Readers of the Atlantic share their experiences following the publication of Sarah Zhang's article (below).
- When a DNA test upends your identity, some find 'family' in secret Facebook group. Good Morning America, 30 July 2018.
- When a DNA test shatters your identity by Sarah Zhang, The Atlantic, 18 July 2018.
- Genetic testing and family secrets by Stephanie Pappas, American Psychological Association June 2018, Vol 49, No. 6.
Blogs
Papers
- Mitchell BA, Kim B. Amateur family genealogists researching their family history: a scoping review of motivations and psychosocial impacts. Genealogy 2024, 8(1): 3.
- Lawton BL, Pyott LC, Deyerin KR, Foeman AK. Experiences of misattributed parentage communities: impacts of discovering new familial kinships. Journal of Family History 49 (1). Published online 20 February 2023.
- Grethel M, Lewis J, Freeman R and Stone C (2022). Discovery of unexpected paternity after direct-to-consumer DNA testing and its impact on identity. Family Relations, published online 5 August 2022.
- Guerrini CJ, Robinson JO, Bloss CC et al (2022). Family secrets: Experiences and outcomes of participating in direct-to-consumer genetic relative-finder services. American Journal of Human Genetics 109 (3): 486-497.
Resources
- Six signs of misattributed parentage in your genetic family tree Advice from LegacyTree Genealogists
- When a relative's DNA does not match Advice from LegacyTree genealogists
- Navigating unexpected results Advice from 23andMe
- Unexpected DNA matches Advice from AncestryDNA
- Can a DNA test be wrong? Advice from Your DNA Guide
- DNA and uncovered secrets by Richard Weiss. A useful online Powerpoint presentation.
- Giving unexpected DNA news with compassion by Brianne Kirkpatrick, Watershed DNA, 17 November 2017.
Podcasts
- Family surprises care of the home DNA test Interview with genetic counsellor Brianne Kirkpatrick.
Research projects
- Family Secrets Research Katy Barbier-Greenland from Swinburne University in Melbourne, Australia, is doing a PhD on the impact of family secrets on people's lives.
- How to support yourself and others around major family secret discoveries? Recommendations from Katy's talk 'Inheriting the unexpected: dealing with unforeseen family secrets arising from genealogical research' given at the Family Tree Live UK conference in London in April 2019.