Finding a unknown father.

[CG07]

Hello,

I’ve recently done an Ancestry DNA test, my first question is, is it normal for it to be stuck on stage one. I posted in 2 weeks ago and still has not been received by ancestry labs.

My main question is would I be able to find the father of my gt-gt grandmother? She was born illegitimate and there is no clue who her father may be, but theoretically I should carry some of her DNA and in turn her father’s DNA - I am aware that there is a chance I have inherited little or none of her DNA.

If descendants of her father did a DNA test I should match up with them, yes? But how easy would it be for me to find out who they are? My guess is not very easy…

She also had 4 other siblings, all illegitimate, and a father only known for one.

Thanks,
Callum

[Kaybron]

Hi Callum,

It does take time for your Ancestry results to come through, sometimes 4-5 weeks.

I did a test to help me find the parents of my maternal grandmother.  It does take a lot of work and your cM matches might be quite low.  I had a cousin on my mother's side complete a DNA test so that I could work out matches to my mother and father and could also use the shared matches we had.  I then started building up a tree using the highest match (149 cM) to try and connect matches and to work out his ancestry and where my grandmother might fit in.  This involved quite a bit of time and is not easy.  You also have to use other things, just not DNA.  You do have to use paper records also and try to work things out, eg did likely candidates for the father of your gt-gt-grandmother live in the same area, or perhaps live in the same household, is their anything in your gt-gt-grandmother's name that could give clues to the father's name.  Look carefully at Census material over a number of years as this is useful. Also make sure that you have the birth certificate and marriage certificates of your gt-gt-grandmother.  Looking at other's trees that have your gt-gt-gt grandmother and gt-gt-grandmother in them or someone you think may be the father, also helps.

Be aware that when your results do come and you have matches, there will be many matches that do not have trees and a lot of your matches that you send messages to will not reply.  They may just want to know their ethnicity and are not interested in family history.

It is not easy and will take a lot of research and time and then you may only have the father could be one of three or four possible candidates (brothers).

Regards Kaybron

[Nanna52]

I did my dna nearly four years ago looking for a biological grandfather.  I now know who my great grandparents are and to the best of my ability have traced their lines.  Unfortunately there were 5 sons alive and in the area at that time of conception so I am waiting for a breakthrough. 
As kaybron said many people do not reply to your email or when they find out about illegitimacy cut off contact. 

[phil57]

The last Ancestry test I submitted was posted on 18th December, and was marked as received on 12th January. It has just gone to DNA extracted a couple of days ago. The tests are only updated as received when they arrive at the US lab, not when they arrive in Ireland. The test before the one I'm currently waiting on took nearly 12 weeks to get a result, from posting date. The current test is showing estimated completion by 12th February, so it's going much faster so far!

As for attempting to find your ancestor. The best advice I can give is to research your tree as far and wide as possible whilst you are waiting for the results. Investigate all the siblings of your direct ancestors in as many generations as possible and try to bring their lines forward by researching their descendants as far as you can. Many of those people may be of little interest to you in relation to your own direct ancestry, but by discovering as many of them as possible you vastly increase the chance that you may recognise the surname of a DNA match, or that Ancestry can pick up a throughline between you and your matches. It's a lot of hard preparatory work, but it will pay dividends. Otherwise you are just going to be looking at a sea of potentially hundreds or thousands of matches, with no idea how many of them might relate to you, and any one of them could be the connection that you need.

[CG07]

Thank you for all your replies.

My gt gt grandmother was the only one to survive infancy out of all her illegitimate siblings. So I’ve only got her line to research, which I have done. Other trees give her father as the made up man she put on her marriage certificate.

Hopefully my results give me some clues as to who her father may have been.

Thanks for letting me know that it’s normal for it to take so long to get to this next stage, that gives me peace of mind that it’s not yet lost in the post!

[phil57]

Thanks for letting me know that it’s normal for it to take so long to get to this next stage, that gives me peace of mind that it’s not yet lost in the post!

You can request a replacement kit if it hasn't been marked as received within 20 business days (4 weeks) of the date you posted it:

https://support.ancestry.co.uk/s/article/Replacing-a-DNA-Kit
 

[CG07]

Thanks for letting me know that it’s normal for it to take so long to get to this next stage, that gives me peace of mind that it’s not yet lost in the post!

You can request a replacement kit if it hasn't been marked as received within 20 business days (4 weeks) of the date you posted it:

https://support.ancestry.co.uk/s/article/Replacing-a-DNA-Kit

Funnily enough, I’ve just received confirmation that they’ve received it now. 

[alpinecottage]

Funnily enough, I’ve just received confirmation that they’ve received it now. 

Ever feel like Big Brother is watching you?     

[scotmum]

Have a read at https://www.danaleeds.com/dna-color-clustering-the-leeds-method-for-easily-visualizing-matches/ then consider working through the method once your results are back.