We recently rounded up a bunch ofhorror storiesfrom people’s experiences with DNA tests like 23andMe.
The responses were so overwhelming from theBuzzFeed Communitythat we decided to do a part two.
Here’s what they shared:
Note: Some stories contain mention of rape.
so, essentially, my dad had been stolen and sold to his adoptive parents.
julietj3
2.
“I was given the test as a gift.
I took it not thinking my whole life was a lie.
Well, I found out my mom lied about the man she told me was actually my dad.
The ‘real’ dad was in his 30s and screwing a 15-year-old.
I basically found out he sleeps around and has quite a few kids.
They all knew about each other but I just found out.
Also, turns out, I went to high school with my half-sister and never knew it.”
Anonymous
3.
I walked away for about a year only to come back to a ton of messages from cousins.
Her twin sister, also named Susan, was raised by her biological mother.
Oh, and if this isnt weird enough, my oldest sister was not my dad’s.
Turns out my mom got pregnant by this Italian guy who had just moved to the US.
My sister was gutted when she found out and has not spoken to any of us since.
I miss her."
He got the neighbor girl pregnant and skipped town.
They also sold stolen goods together."
andypandaoh
5.
“My daughter had been wanting a 23andMe DNA kit for a while and I kept putting it off.
I decided to give her one for Christmas and found out that I had two half-siblings.
Both from my dad.
One is older than my brother.
My dad was a teenager who never knew one of them existed because she was given up for adoption.
She had been trying to meet my dad and contacted him a few times.
He refuses to meet her.
The other is younger than me, conceived through an affair.
My dad will not admit anything and pretends they dont exist.
I will never feel the same about my dad.”
“I always felt like I didnt look like my dad or sister growing up.
When my sister was 38 she went on 23andMe and discovered our dad doesn’t share our DNA.
I discovered the donor on 23andMe.
Extremely nice and welcoming.
We still text to this day.
Ill meet him eventually.
I have a ton of half-siblings all over the US.
Mostly males, but a few females.
All successful and super cool.
This started as a shock and horror story, but ended as a sense of relief and understanding.”
“Upon my mother passing away from cancer, I learned my father was not my biological dad!
My mother had kept this skeleton in the closet for many years.
The results came back 99.999%.
It was him, my biological dad.
Soon after that, my family and I went to Alabama to meet my biological dad.
“Four years ago, at the behest of my daughter, I took the Ancestry.com test.
She was building a family tree for her sons.
It matters not as my daughter is still and will always remain my daughter.
My daughter has since located her bio-father and has a good relationship with him.”
searunner52
9.
The funny thing is that I guess I always kind of subconsciously knew this.
I even jokingly asked my mom once if she was sure he was my dad.
She laughed and said yes, but I realize now she was really nervous when she said it.
“Not my story, but my husbands.
Turns out his father was not a very good human.
I want him to know that we know what he did.”
Three DNA tests confirmed it.
I was completely devastated.
This happened about a year ago to me.”
“My dad gave me some money for my 42nd birthday.
I have always wanted to find out exactly what my ethnicity was.
I have never been more shocked in my life.
I cried for days.
I tried to talk to my mom and was met with absolutely no answers.
I ended up doing my own research and shocked her with who I thought my biological father was.
Needless to say, the look on her face was all the proof I needed.
In the end, blood doesnt make you family.
My dad is the best dad anyone could ask for and will always be my dad.
Unfortunately, the father was unidentified.
which triggered a memory of her mom being pregnant when my mom was about 5.
Then my mom said, ‘My mom didnt come home with a baby she told me he died.’
My mom confronted my nana and she denied even REMEMBERING being pregnant and giving birth to him!
Yet again, nana denies it and says she doesnt remember.
“I always knew I was adopted but didnt know any details.
After my parents died, I decided to take an Ancestry test.
Found out who my birth parents were.
(Birth mother is still living).
She told me she didnt know the birth fathers name.
She said he must have been one of the group of men that raped her in a park.”
“Grew up as an only child.
My son did 23andMe then called me to inquire about two names that matched him.
The dates of birth were closer to my birth than his DOB.
Did a DNA test and matched to my son and to the others.
Digging further, I finally asked my elderly mom, she fessed to an affair while married.
Now I have three sisters and two brothers from two other women.
Our bio dad was busy while married and outside the marriage.
Took several months to get my head wrapped around having siblings.
Met my three sisters (from two different mothers).
They are awesome and I hope our relationship grows.”
“I took a DNA test to find out more about my family history and roots.
Three of the kids were given away and two only came into her care after the father unexpectedly died.
Seeing this jungle, I turned to my father’s side.
I was closely matched with people that I had never heard of.
Turns out the man my father knew as his dad was not his dad after all.”
My dad didn’t accept this.
The amount of mental stress while waiting for results was horrible!
The positive is that I have gained new family members who are lovely.
The downside is my tree is a jungle and no one will talk about it.
My family acts like it’s classified information and my maternal grandmother will take the information to her grave.
My paternal grandparents already passed so I will never have answers.”
Apparently, my dad left a memory of himself when he was over in Vietnam during the war.
My dad being 100% Irish sired a 50% Vietnamese and 50% Irish lad.
I would love to meet the guy, my brother would I’m sure not.
They kept it quiet and never told my dad or his brothers.
We were not expecting matches scattered across the country!
We look incredibly alike!"
“Not really a horror story so much as an annoyance story.
For as long as I can remember, I was told my Mom’s side had some Cherokee ancestry.
I now know this is pretty common for white people to believe, even if it’s not true.
I took a 23andMe test and…absolutely no Native American ancestry.
My mom, grandma, uncle, and everyone on that side refuses to believe it.
Some of them have stories of meeting a Cherokee ‘grandmother’ back in the 1960s.
But my DNA says otherwise.
I think they all could get DNA tests and still not believe it.”
“I took an ancestry DNA test on a whim.
“Mine confirmed my dad isn’t my father.
harrydude82
22. jlngg
23.
I learned a lot that was interesting and surprising but not unexpected.
Turns out my first cousin had roamed around and got someone pregnant and had a son with her.
The best part for me was to find out that he was gay and had just gotten married.
I was happy to finally find someone else in my family that’s gay and not a conservative.”
“A neighbor thought a DNA test for the whole family would be a great gift.
She handled all the results and was shocked to find out her nephew was actually her stepson.
Oops, her husband had an affair with her brother’s wife.”
“Where do I start?
My mother was adopted.
I always knew that.
My parents divorced when I was six years old and my brother was three.
My father remarried and had a daughter with his new wife…let’s call my half-sister Tina.
Time goes on, like it does, we are all grown up.
My mother passes away.
Exactly four years later, on the same day, my father passes away.
Tina and I begin to send texts and keep in touch now and then.
She then tells me that she thinks she found a half-brother to us.”
“She sent a picture of the guy and he looks exactly like my father.
My mind was blown.
So, now I’m interested and want to know about my mother’s side of the family.
I take a DNA test myself.
A few weeks later I got an email saying my results were ready.
I open it and don’t see anyone I know.
I expected not to know most of it because my mother was adopted.
But, my half-sister isn’t on my list of relatives.
Neither is this half-brother she found.
Turns out…my dad isn’t my dad!!!!
Well, now what?!?!?!?
Both of my parents are deceased so there is no one to ask questions!!
I have reached out to a few people who are high on my list.
Still don’t know who my bio father is…not even close to knowing.
So, I take a different DNA test to see if I match with anyone through that one.
So, yeah…go take a DNA test.
Maybe you are related to me.
I found out that I had a secret cousin that no one from the family ever knew about.
He was 40, which wouldve made my never-been-married aunt around 18.
I havent heard from my cousin since.”
He told her he donated sperm in the ’90s.
Told me Im the only kid he really cares about.
“I come from a family of four children, three girls, and one boy.
My brother unfortunately passed away 20 years ago but he had a daughter so we have an adult niece.
Our mother passed away several years ago and no one is telling us anything.
Talk about a surprise!
Were okay with it now.”
We got the results back and the relatives thing showed a paternal grandmother, half-uncle, and two cousins!
Of course, I messaged them immediately because I have some health problems.
Her dad told her that I was ‘crazy’ and to just ignore me.
Then I dropped the bomb about my medical issues and that there is a tiny chance its genetic.
I have no real need to connect with biological relatives that didnt want us.
Medical history is super real though.”
“My mother-in-law passed before I ever dated my husband, but I had met her one surviving sibling.
Was told their dad was Italian and their mom German.
A few years ago, we bought my husband a DNA test for Father’s Day.
When the results came in, there was the 50% Scottish.
And some Russian and Irish.
And ZERO percent Italian ancestry.
“In our mother’s and father’s families, there were three marriages among the siblings.
Their unions produced 24 children.
Apparently, my dad’s sister’s youngest child had a different father than my mom’s brother.”
bripezz0618
33.
“My sister took a DNA test and found herbest friendof over 12 years was our second cousin.”
emilymckenzie2
34.Finally, “Not necessarily a ‘horror story,’ but certainly a bit strange.
I found my grandfather and the name of my great-uncle….and 10 other children.
Apparently, my dads father had 11 siblings!!!
jamiedubois
Note: Some submissions have been edited for length and/or clarity.
