Liv Bridge
A woman has issued a warning about DNA tests after her niece's test revealed a disturbing family secret, resulting in her cutting off her mother.
You might be curious to know about your ancestral history, and with the help of easily accessible DNA tests that can be purchased online, more and more of us are finding some interesting facts about our genealogy.
However, a woman is now issuing a stark warning against them after what was meant to be a bit of harmless fun ended up wreaking havoc in her family.
The anonymous woman, who took to Reddit to share her harrowing ordeal, wrote: "I know that everyone is curious about their genealogy and it seems a harmless and could be useful in the case of genetic health issues test - but it's also important to remember that DNA testing can unearth family secrets that it serves no one to unearth."
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In her case, it was her niece who ended up taking the 23andMe DNA test.
And when the test results came back, she was shocked (and presumably devastated) to learn the man she'd called dad her whole life was not her biological father.
Her auntie continued in the thread: "The mum was shocked although she had been having an affair, she had made made a conscious decision to end it because she wanted a stable family for her child.
"She had no idea that she was pregnant with the other person's child. She was deeply in love with the man, but refused to break up the marriage over it."
The truth was finally out after 45 years of secrecy, and the woman decided to try to contact her biological father soon after taking the test when tragedy struck again.
"The mum was in shock at first, but told the daughter that she would tell her anything she wanted to know and encouraged her to reach out to this man," her auntie continued. "The father who raised her, who was a great dad, had passed 20 years before.
"Unfortunately, the bio-dad had become an alcoholic and died shortly after they connected."
The whole fiasco apparently caused a serious rift between the woman and her mom, with her deciding to 'cut the mother off' and refusing to speak to her for the past five years.
"The mother is heartbroken, but understands her daughter's anger and has said: 'I have it coming... it's my punishment.' She is 73 now and this was her only child."
In her warning, she urged others to think again before ordering the kit, as it could 'create' some family dramas, adding: "Running out and getting a DNA test and then sharing the news in it indiscriminately can backfire. - badly."
"But maybe some secrets just need to be secrets. My sister will never be the same - she's old and she's now lost the people she loved the most through her own fault - as she says.
"The story above isn't the only story I've heard of these tests shattering families. As I said, it's one thing if it's for a genetic/health reason that you need to understand a health history.
"But, I have to remind her that she's human and humans make mistakes. At this point, it makes little difference."