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General => Ancestral Family Tree DNA Testing => Topic started by: GfL on Friday 06 December 24 15:18 GMT (UK)
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Hello,
My father passed away before he was able to do a DNA test. My dad thought that his aunt (a spinster all her life) may have been his mother and that he was brought up by her sister. He had his reasons for thinking this might have been the case.
My dad had 2 siblings who passed away early 2000s. Dads' sister married and had 3 sons and a daughter.
Is there any point in asking one of her sons to do a DNA test? Would it show a link to my father in any way that might help to work out if what he thought might have any truth to it? What kind of link/help would a nephews DNA possibly be?
As you can tell, just starting on the DNA subject and any help /guidance would be welcome
Thank you
GfL
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What information re parentage is on your fathers birth certificate? That is your best starting point. If his spinster aunt is shown as his mother then a DNA test may be unneccessary unless you want to identify his biological father
My dad had 2 siblings who passed away early 2000s
So who were the parents of his 2 "siblings"? Were they the sons of his spinster aunt's sister?
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Hi Carole,
His spinster aunt is not on his birth certificate nor his siblings birth certificates.
The lady he grew up calling mum is named as their mother.
He and his siblings also have the same father on the certificates. Dad never doubted that his father was his biological father.
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Do you know his reasons for thinking his aunt was his real mother?
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In relation to his 2 siblings - was your father firstborn/second or third?
Are there realistic gaps between the 3 births?
Were all 3 born after the parents marriage?
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Yes it would be worth getting one of them to take a DNA test.
This could show them as a half Cousin to you or a full Cousin.
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Testing others will always be beneficial though certain half/full relative scenarios can still be unclear if the shared cM amount falls in the overlap that could apply to both options.
I have several close cousin matches that fall into the overlap zone, some nudge closer to being full, some are more likely to be half and some are right in the middle. I identified a group of matches that only match me so the balance was shifting towards half cousins but that would contradict all the documents and certs I've gathered over the years. A couple of paper trail 1c's are still around and I was able to target test them in the hope of finding the answer, one came back at 600cM which is an awful amount as it's in the overlap zone but the other came back at less than 350cM which can only apply to a half 1c. I then started to compare them with each other and proved they are all full relatives to each other. When taking everything into account (including that mystery group), I was able to prove my parent is an NPE.
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In relation to his 2 siblings - was your father firstborn/second or third?
Are there realistic gaps between the 3 births?
Were all 3 born after the parents marriage?
Hi Carole,
There were 3 years between them, 1930, 1933 and Dad was born 1936.
All 3 were born after their parents marriage.
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Testing others will always be beneficial though certain half/full relative scenarios can still be unclear if the shared cM amount falls in the overlap that could apply to both options.
I have several close cousin matches that fall into the overlap zone, some nudge closer to being full, some are more likely to be half and some are right in the middle. I identified a group of matches that only match me so the balance was shifting towards half cousins but that would contradict all the documents and certs I've gathered over the years. A couple of paper trail 1c's are still around and I was able to target test them in the hope of finding the answer, one came back at 600cM which is an awful amount as it's in the overlap zone but the other came back at less than 350cM which can only apply to a half 1c. I then started to compare them with each other and proved they are all full relatives to each other. When taking everything into account (including that mystery group), I was able to prove my parent is an NPE.
argh I'm sorry as a newbie I need to re-read that!
Is it worth asking the daughter to do a test too?
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The more results you can gather the better and knowing how much dna they share with each other as well as with you is useful information too. It all helps to create an accurate tree and makes life easier when trying to figure out mystery matches or solve an NPE/missing ancestor scenario.
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Thank you all, fingers crossed I might fathom something out.
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There's a coverage estimator that can be useful, it not only estimates the dna coverage of an ancestor but can suggest the most beneficial target tester.
Link to the coverage tool and an example showing coverage/suggested tester;
https://dnapainter.com/tools/coverage/examples/e1
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Thank you Glen, I best get asking my cousin to do a test.
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You didn't mention what made him suspect the sister was the mother?
If I'm following this right, the suspicion is that his father had an affair with his sister-in-law and his wife adopted the child as her own?
Assuming the two sisters had the same two biological parents they would have the same DNA ancestry but if that's not the case that would be something to look at.
Despite his feeling that his father was biological, I would also look further afield with the father just in case. If you can't DNA match to his believed father's ancestry then you know something is up. A match to the sisters but not the father might suggest that he was the illegitimate child of the aunt by an unknown man.
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Assuming the two sisters had the same two biological parents they would have the same DNA ancestry but if that's not the case that would be something to look at.
This is what has been on my mind. Assuming that either one of OPs scenarios is correct, then irrespective of which sister was the mother, the child will have the same four grandparents. So is DNA testing going to resolve this question? I am not sure.
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Assuming the two sisters had the same two biological parents they would have the same DNA ancestry but if that's not the case that would be something to look at.
This is what has been on my mind. Assuming that either one of OPs scenarios is correct, then irrespective of which sister was the mother, the child will have the same four grandparents. So is DNA testing going to resolve this question? I am not sure.
Either dad's sister is a full blooded sister or is a very closely related half sister (same father, closely related mothers) or, "best case scenario" (from a certain perspective) a normal cousin. In either of the first two possibilities, I'm not sure how one would be able to differentiate conclusively from DNA testing a child of hers. I don't know how you'd know without also having both mothers to compare against.