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What if you weren’t who you thought you were?

    Home Genetics What if you weren’t who you thought you were?
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    What if you weren’t who you thought you were?

    By June Yu | Genetics | 0 comment | 2 May, 2019 | 0

    If you’ve ever thought about doing a genealogy test “for fun”, think again. You may end up uncovering scenarios like the following:

    1. Long forgotten secret affairs.

    2. Lost family members from wars or conflicts.

    3. Babies swapped at birth.

    For Alice Collins Plebuch, each of these was a possibility when she found out she was half Jewish instead of full Irish as she’d always believed. It was a long and winding road before she found out the third option was the truth.

    Yes, unbelievably, her father was swapped with another baby at birth. Her short, dark-haired father grew up in an orphanage, staunchly proud of his supposed Irish heritage. Meanwhile, a tall, blonde, blue-eyed man grew up in a Jewish family… and had to produce his “real” birth certificate to satisfy the Jewish parents of the girl he was the dating.

    It boggles the mind! A whole new world of what ifs have opened up with the booming popularity of DNA testing to trace genealogical roots.

    Many a child from a struggling family has perhaps wondered whether they secretly came from a wealthy family. It’s the stuff of books including classics such as Oliver Twist and Jane Eyre.

    In real life, now it’s possible to do DNA testing to find out. But what if the situation was reversed? What if you DON’T want to find out who your ancestors really were?

    What if you were rich? Would you want to take the risk of finding out you were poor?

    What if you were a magistrate or a judge? Would you want to find out your ancestors were notorious criminals?

    What if you were a prominent left wing labour leader? Would you want to know that your great great great grandfather was once an elite landowner… or even a slave trader?

    What’s your worst nightmare DNA scenario? Or have you had a surprise from a DNA test kit? Let me know in the comments below or send me a message. I may well wish to interview you about it!

    Image by bryandilts from Pixabay

    DNA tests, genealogy

    June Yu

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