Woman learns devastating truth about her dad after taking DNA test for fun

A woman has described how a bit of lighthearted fun unravelled into an earth-shattering discovery about her family after she and her dad took an at-home DNA test.

The unnamed daughter recounted the life-changing experience on Reddit’s Relationship Advice forum, explaining that she is “very close” to her father, particularly since her mum died owing to medical issues when she was young.

She also noted that she has always been “relatively close” to her uncle and his family, who live an hour away from the home she shares with her dad.

Then, she said, around five weeks before writing the subreddit post, her father had received a 23andme DNA kit as a birthday present from his friends, and she decided to get one too so that they could compare their results.

“We got our results back yesterday so we logged on to see our percentages, etc.,” she wrote. “It was quite interesting to see the breakdowns of our ancestry plus traits we had.”

However, things took a dark turn when they both checked the “DNA relative finder”.

“This is where everything started going downhill,” she said.

“It showed my dad as my uncle on my profile, and me as his niece on his.

“As we looked into it more, it listed my ‘uncle’ as my father, alongside my ‘cousins’ (he has two sons 18M and 20M) as my half-brothers.”

The original poster (OP) continued: “My dad and I started looking up if this was normal, if errors occur in their database, and we are now pretty sure that the probability of my ‘uncle’ being my biological father is pretty high.”

The ancestry kit turned the father and daughter's worlds upside down(iStock)

Ending her account, the woman admitted she now didn’t know what to do.

“I never dreamed this would happen as I look so much like my father,” she wrote, before admitting that this also meant “I look a lot like my uncle too”.

She then said that her dad had called her "uncle" but he wasn't able to reach him.

“I tried it too, but it's not working. I am not sure if he's already gotten a message on his end that I am his daughter,” she wrote.

Wrapping up her story, she said: “My dad is devastated and after calling my uncle yesterday, he's been in his room and crying a lot. We haven't spoken since.

“I feel really bad for him as he really loved my mother a lot and always told me about her.”

She then sought advice on how she should approach her dad and uncle on the subject, as well as her cousins/half-siblings.

The post racked up more than 250 comments, as fellow redditors offered their sympathy and support to the conflicted OP.

“DNA doesn't make someone your father. Time, love and effort do,” one wrote.

“Tell your dad that he is your dad no matter what and you don’t care what the test says!” added another.

“Tell him that you love him and you’re here for him; that he doesn’t have to go through this alone. You may also want to find a family counsellor to help guide the conversation with your uncle, dad, and you.”

They then added: “From what you posted it sounds like your mom has passed away and your dad is probably reliving a lot of heartbreak because the image he had of your mom has been somewhat shattered.

“He may benefit from individual therapy as well.”

“Yes, and he was also betrayed by his brother,” pointed out another. “That is a lot to process.”

The OP responded: “All I've been able to think about is how my dad's not truly my father but I feel a lot more reassured that even though the test suggests otherwise, he is still my dad.”