DNA Test, Searching for relatives in Germany

[ChelseaAnne2206]

Hi Everyone,
My fiance recently took an Ancestry DNA test. We've uploaded to results to various other sites, including MyHeritage, LivingDNA and GEDMatch (Don't have a clue how that site works yet).

We had 2 reasons for him taking the test. 1. Basically to prove my research was correct. Which Woohoo so far so good!!
and 2. AKA The big one! We believe his Grandfather fathered a son in Germany somewhere between 1940 and 1947. The only person that had any information about this son passed away 25yrs ago. Due to various circumstance there was nothing left to our family that would give us any clues on to who this man could be.
Ancestry etc hasn't returned any results so far.
So what i want to ask is does anyone have any advice on where we could start looking or any sites we could upload to that may be more helpful when looking for German relatives.

Thankyou in advance

[pughcd]

Hi @ChelseaAnne2206

There is an organisation called GITrace www.gitrace.org who assist people looking for American GI fathers, grandfathers etc. They can be very helpful looking for family in USA, UK and Germany.  Contact the team with your story.

pughcd

[ChelseaAnne2206]

Hi @ChelseaAnne2206

There is an organisation called GITrace www.gitrace.org who assist people looking for American GI fathers, grandfathers etc. They can be very helpful looking for family in USA, UK and Germany.  Contact the team with your story.

pughcd

Thankyou so much I'll contact them this evening

[decor]

Just to say that Ancestry DNA is available in Germany and being advertised right now. So you never know...

[ChelseaAnne2206]

Just to say that Ancestry DNA is available in Germany and being advertised right now. So you never know...

I was quite hopeful as a few of the possible matches had what looked to be quite German surnames but so far they've not been the man we are looking for.
My fiancé's father is 80 next week so it would be so lovely if we could find this long lost half brother.

[aghadowey]

Quite a few of my German connections have their DNA results here-
https://en.geneanet.org/
What was my top match at the time messaged me and we narrowed down the connection to the village my great-grandmother came from and exchanged details. He also very kindly sent me more information which took my family tree back several more generations. Although this is different from what you are trying to do it might help your search.

[ChelseaAnne2206]

Quite a few of my German connections have their DNA results here-
https://en.geneanet.org/
What was my top match at the time messaged me and we narrowed down the connection to the village my great-grandmother came from and exchanged details. He also very kindly sent me more information which took my family tree back several more generations. Although this is different from what you are trying to do it might help your search.

Thankyou so much, I've just uploaded the DNA results to there now to await some results, fingers are crossed x

[Ruskie]

You have to tread carefully with this kind of search.

Assuming the half brother is still alive, he may not be aware that the man who brought him up was not his biological father - you could be stirring up a hornets’s net. Similarly for any of his relatives or descendants if you find DNA matches to them.

On the other hand, if you find a DNA match who does not want any contact with your father in law, this could be very disappointing for him.

Just a few things to consider. 

If you are looking exclusively for matches who live in Germany, or have German surnames, you might be limiting yourself - people move around and women marry and take their husband’s surname, so maybe expand the search? Many of my matches have come through the female line.

Good luck. 

[ChelseaAnne2206]

You have to tread carefully with this kind of search.

Assuming the half brother is still alive, he may not be aware that the man who brought him up was not his biological father - you could be stirring up a hornets’s net. Similarly for any of his relatives or descendants if you find DNA matches to them.

On the other hand, if you find a DNA match who does not want any contact with your father in law, this could be very disappointing for him.

Just a few things to consider. 

If you are looking exclusively for matches who live in Germany, or have German surnames, you might be limiting yourself - people move around and women marry and take their husband’s surname, so maybe expand the search? Many of my matches have come through the female line.

Good luck. 

Thankyou, we have a few adoptions in my fiancé's family so I understand that these topics can sometimes cause issues.
From what we've been told, at some point the mother and father were in contact. Whether the child (half brother) from the relationship was old enough to know about any of it at the time I don't know.
My father in law is prepared for the idea that IF we find someone, they might not want to know.
I think he's more fascinated by the idea that somewhere in the world there's a man that looks just like him.
I agree I should be more expansive with my research. Current plan is any DNA matches that pop up I send a message and hope for a reply at some point this century hahaha!!