For several years after I found out I wasn’t my Dad’s biological daughter, I couldn’t even look at his tree anymore. It was literally a full stop. Seeing all the people I thought I came from genuinely hurt my heart. It was like breaking up with someone you love. I started doing genealogy when I…
When people hear my story, they all react differently. There is sympathy, most definitely. There is shock, especially if they knew me as a kid. There is a curiosity to hear all the sordid details, which is completely normal. Overall, I think it’s human nature to want to say something comforting or uplifting when you…
I knew that eventually, I had to tell our girls about the secret I had discovered because it also affected them. This was their DNA, too. I had made the decision not to tell my siblings until after my mother had passed away, but I felt the longer I waited to tell the girls,…
I wish I could tell you that now that the ice was broken between Mom and me about who my biological father was, she then shared countless stories about *Joe with me. But she really didn’t. The simple fact was that Mom was embarrassed, and frankly, she didn’t want to talk about it ever again….
I don’t remember my parents being married or acting like a married couple. But I didn’t understand they were divorced, either. No one told me then, thinking I was too young to understand. One of the earliest memories I have, though, is of Dad sleeping downstairs in our family room. I was about five years…
I stared down at my iPad and started to shake looking at the 23andMe comparison between my brother and me. Estimated relationship: Half-sibling What does it feel like to discover that you aren’t really your Dad’s child? It felt like I had been punched in the stomach and while I struggled to catch my breath,…