50 People Whose Families Have Been Destroyed by Online DNA Test Results

[TonyV]

Thank you Romilly. I wasn’t aware of the book.

I first did a Y DNA test when my mother was still alive, although my Dad had passed away around 16 years before. It was all about breaking down brick walls but my mother asked me questions about it which surprised me. She wasn’t normally interested in my hobby. Of course being a test of the male sex gene it proved to be negative as far as what I thought my paternal line was at the time.  The failure rang no bells at the time although it’s clear now why.

Perhaps for her peace of mind autosomal tests weren’t around in those far off days. Although to be honest the apparent failure of the Y test put me off bothering about taking any more tests until last year, some 17 years later

[coombs]

Sometimes you can become attached to your ancestors, and it can be hard to accept that female infidelity happened in our ancestors days, and that if you did common DNA testing, you may find out that a 3xgreat grandfather who you became attached to was not a blood ancestor but another man was. Or one of your beloved grandfathers. Some people are drawn to who they believe are biological ancestors.

Ignorance is bliss, and DNA testing has opened up Pandora's Box.

Has DNA testing confirmed the 2% estimation of cuckoldry or is it providing a different figure?

[frederickay]

Hi , my family hasn't been destroyed by DNA and several have been great discoveries including grandparents and ethnicity.
In my case because i don't understand it I have an inkling I have discovered A situation with my great grandfather . I have verified several relations matching me coming forward from him but none with a connection to his name going back .Alternatively I have matched with several of his mothers relations.. Does this indicate there is is a possibility / probability he has a different father than the family I have  tracked back to 1600. Eek .. still DNA has proved he is my great granddad and  for that I am happy . Fred . Ps happy to hear a more educated summary .

[Rosinish]

As always, the negatives in life seem to be recorded & the positives ignored!

Infidelity is nothing new & not only via the female line.

Illegitimacy is nothing new & not only via the female line.

It's about time men who fathered illegitimate children were thought of in the same manner as women who gave birth to illegitimate children

If a single/married/divorced/widowed woman had 5 children by 5 different men, she'd be the talk of the town but if a single/married/divorced/widowed man had 5 children by 5 different women, he'd never be referred to in the same manner.

There's only one thing for sure in both scenarios, it's only the woman anyone can be sure of as the 'legitimate' parent, unless...

As we've heard in life, instances where children were 'switched at birth' which is only a more recent thing, not back in the day when births were at home!

Annie

[Redroger]

I have been trying to prove my Luffman family line since 1996.On paper and by DNA I am confident about the line to my great grandfather b1798, fairly confident about the identity of my 2great grandfather b 1776,but beyond that every thing is at best unproven. He came to Alford Lincs with the Somerset Militia in 1794, and married my 2 great grandmother in 1797 having lived with her for 2 years whilst on military furlough.
To jump back a generation his mother may have been Betty Meatyard (various spellings) as there is a baptism at Henstridge in 1777 describing him as her "base son" the surname Luffman having been crossed through, a device where the clergy thought they knew the father. Much of the problem is due to both her lifestyle and that of my believed 2 great grandmother. With one possible exception my Y chromosome does not fit with any of these earlier Luffmans, the exception being on another line. My possible 3great grandmother Betty had several illegitimate children and claimed off the parish for none of them.,making the implication obvious, but as she was 17 when hex was born, the Luffman connection is more likely I believe.
Suggestions to resolve my problem are very welcome.