Nov 3, 2019 3 min read

I read the article, “Peters Township library hosts workshop on DNA tests” (Oct. 28) with interest. The article did not mention that consumers should proceed with caution, or you might lose your entire family!

A friend who lives far from here – as does everyone else involved in his experience with online DNA testing – called to inform me his youngest son in his 30s took a DNA test advertised on a popular website. The results indicated another person who took the same test matched up as his biological father. It was not the father he grew up knowing, but a man living in another part of the state where the man he believed was his biological father lived. He called his brother and gave him the news.

His brother took the same test, and his results showed that they share the same mother, but not biological father. And, his father is different from his brother’s – not the man the two believed to be their biological father.

I interrupted my friend at this point and told him I didn’t believe that, that the second son who took the test looks just like their two sisters. He then informed that they weren’t his, either. I was in shock. I can only imagine how devastated this man in his late 70s was to learn all of this. None of the four children that he raised were his biological children.

He went on to explain that they all came to visit him and had DNA testing done at a hospital, which confirmed that the children were not his. Meanwhile, the mother of the four children and both of the biological fathers are deceased. It should be noted, for those who might be forming opinions about this family, that these are educated professionals: registered nurse, doctor, teacher, real estate broker. I had no opinion. I was lost for words.

My friend lost his entire family through an online DNA test. All of the children still circle around the man who raised them, but they are left with many unanswered questions that will never be answered.

The test results will list cousins, etc., by name, if they have taken the test. Therefore, through professional DNA testing with these relatives listed, the other three children were able to determine the biological father they shared.

I researched this online and apparently more and more families are making this discovery when receiving the results of DNA testing to learn their lineage, but not to the extent my friend suffered.

I would caution anyone taking the online DNA testing to be prepared for what they may learn.

Rebecca L Simpson

Washington