DNA Bombshell

[coombs]

Yes, as Carole said, did your brother in law's mum marry before pregnancy, during pregnancy, or did she marry after your bil was born?

Hi,

Unfortunately in this case it appears he was conceived through an affair had during the marriage.

So around January 1983 she fell pregnant by another man if the baby was born October that year, and she had married the supposed father in 1981.

[CaroleW]

I note you mention his parents have been made aware so assume his mother is still alive.  Is that correct? 

[Lisa in California]

I can't answer from the DNA angle but look at when his parents married in relation to when he was born?

Depending on those dates - some possibilities.

He was illegitimate - born before the marriage

His mother was already pregnant by somebody else when she married.  Husband may have thought he was the father so you need to be careful or he may have known & agreed to bring him up as his own child

Mother had an affair during the marriage.  Tread very carefully if this could be a possibility - particularly if she & her husband are still alive & he may not be aware

Hi Carole,
His parents married Jul-Sept 1981 and he was born in October 1983, so it would appear to be an extra-marital affair. His parent's have been made aware, not by myself, and his father didn't know or have an inkling that he wasn't his biological father. A rather difficult situation as you can imagine. :/

If I’ve correctly understood all of the comments, another possibility: putting it delicately, the mother may not have willingly consented to the situation, but went ahead with the pregnancy anyway.

[amondg]

The nearest American air base to Braintree was Wethersfield, it closed some years ago.

[melba_schmelba]

Yes, as Carole said, did your brother in law's mum marry before pregnancy, during pregnancy, or did she marry after your bil was born?

Hi,

Unfortunately in this case it appears he was conceived through an affair had during the marriage.

You should download the Ancestry DNA and upload to MyHeritage, LivingDNA, FamilytreeDNA and GEDMATCH. You may have to pay a small fee to use extra features.

[4b2]

If your brother in laws father is still living, maybe suggest they both do a YDNA test with familytreedna which follows the paternal line. If nothing else it will give a second opinion and perhaps point towards a suggested name if your brother in law and his father do not match.

This is a good idea. You can get the 37 marker one for about £80, when it's on sale, which occurs around holidays like Christmas.

https://www.familytreedna.com/products/y-dna

The issue with that is it only shows if you're related within about 1,000 years, so you will have lots of matches with many surnames.

If they include the surname of this suspected man from the US, then that's an extra citation.

You need 700 markers test to be able to reasonably determine distance of relationship with these tests.

These tests are also mostly taken by Americans. You won't get many UK matches. And sometimes you get zero matches.

found someone who is showing as either a second cousin or a 1st cousin twice removed

What is the level of shared cM?

Given the short-term time frame you can narrow the relationship down a bit more. And because it's a half-relationship, the calculation is different.

So if it's saying second cousin (something like 150-300cM in most cases), the full relationship is going to be something like 2nd cousin and then a half-1st cousin.



If you have dates of birth and lists of siblings, it will be easier to get a handle on it.

[CaroleW]

You say his parents are aware of the DNA results & that his mother had an affair.  That suggests more than a “one night stand” so doesn’t she know the name/nationality of your brother in laws biological father?

[kjmck]

Hi Everyone,

My apologies for the delayed response, unfortunately work and daily life gets in the way of how much I want to do this.

The situation has not improved, although it has calmed somewhat, there is no resolution in sight nor the possibility of any truths being told any time soon.

I will take on board what all have suggested, including the additional Y-DNA testing which may be an idea, though not cheap.

Though on the plus side there have been positive strides made with my BIL's maternal heritage which is indeed American/Irish.

Many thanks,
Keelan

[Biggles50]

I would query the validity of the test with Ancestry, to see if there are recorded issues with the sample.

Hopefully they would send another test FOC, if not then I would suggest that your BiL buys and takes another DNA test.

Additionally if your BiL has a Brother that they both take a Y-DNA test, this is a long shot but imo one worth trying if all else fails

As suggested prior, uploading to all the usual websites the Ancestry DNA file may yield results that can help.