Surprise siblings and secret fathers: 7 things people learned from DNA tests

A Reddit user once asked people who had taken genetic tests what the weirdest thing was that they learned from their DNA. The answers ranged from heartwarming to heartbreaking. Here are seven of them.

1. A father found at 60

One person learned at 60 that the man who raised them was not their biological father. Five years after they appeared on Ancestry.com, a cousin they had never met got in touch. Everyone in that side of the family had known about them. They also discovered two brothers and a sister, all living in Florida, like them.

2. Switched at birth

A 78-year-old man found out through a relative's 23andMe test that he had been switched at birth. Only three children were born at the hospital that day. None of his biological siblings were still alive, though many cousins were. His son-in-law says it has been a real struggle for him.

3. An aunt nobody knew about

One woman's great-grandfather had an affair long ago, and the baby was given up for adoption. Ancestry led the family to her. She looks strikingly like the writer's late grandmother. Today she gets to love on the writer's child.

4. Three families from one notification

Adopted at birth, one person found their biological mother through Ancestry at age 30. Their mother then shared their father's contact details, since the two had made a pact to tell each other if either found their child. Five years later, they have close relationships with both families, a half-sibling on each side, and a shared love of cars. They are spending Thanksgiving with their mom.

5. Four days too late

At 65, one person took a test and learned that their mother had an affair with a married railroad worker in Utah. After their mother died, a second test confirmed that her good friend, the person they were named after, was their father. They tried to find him and learned he had died four days after the results came in. He was 90.

6. A big family, split apart

One person found a half-sister who never knew about them. Along the way, they learned that their grandmother is one of quadruplets given up for adoption. Their great-grandparents could not look after nine children at the time. Their great-grandfather had also had a family in Texas before.

7. Three sisters, no shared father

After their mother died, an aunt and her two sisters took DNA tests. All three results showed that the naval officer who raised them was not the father of any of them. The aunt had suspected it about herself, but not about all three.

Sometimes a swab of spit changes the whole family tree, for better and for worse.