I’ve found a new family member!

[triile]

Did a DNA test on ancestry and someone popped up I didn’t know. On messaging him, he said his dad was adopted and had died and he was doing the family tree to try and find his dads birth parents
he messaged me today and it turns out my gran (mums side) was his dads birth mum
my mum didn’t know. My uncle didn’t know
my auntie did and says “oh yeah. She had twins. Adopted at birth”

so now I get to tell this guy that his dad has a twin somewhere and there’s a whole family side I can share with him about his dad

now to find who the dad was as it’s not my grandad… and nobody is listed on the birth certificate

That’s a great outcome. Carry on searching x

Fascinating! Please update when you find out more about the missing twin and birth father.

He’s waiting for some records which should give a bit more but he said if I had never taken the DNA test, he never would have found his dads birth mum and he’s been looking for quite some time

she was listed as housekeeper so I’m suspecting the dad is probably someone within the household at the time

This is a great story unfolding. I think you are lucky to have received a reply - it sounds as though it was quite a quick response.

I similarly found an unknown name in my list of closest relatives on Ancestry - the next on the list after my daughter - I really have no idea who they are or how they can be related - 1st cousin once removed (i.e. daughter of) - I messaged them several times over the last few months but haven't received a reply - I'm not even sure they have seen any of the messages. They did their Ancestry test in Sept 2020 and were "Last active" - "3-11 Months ago" so they may never see any of my messages. I've asked relatives if they recognise the name and to scour friends lists on fb but no one knows the name.

Another "cousin" I knew well from childhood is listed... but is clearly NOT my cousin - the figures don't stack up so this points to my fathers sister NOT being his FULL SISTER, a half sister at the very best, possibly further removed. She died earlier this year. I'm not in touch with my father, haven't been for 20 years now so there's no conversation to be had - I don't even know where he lives - I assume he's still alive but I doubt I'll hear - I only just found out that his younger brother died 1-2 years ago. I'm intrigued by the new cousin once removed though. I did the test as I have long suspected that my father may well have fathered other kids while working away. DNA testing certainly can be interesting!

"now to find who the dad was as it’s not my grandad…"

Have a look at who your shared matches are.

Go to your DNA Matches page and then click on this person.

This will take you to the page showing your connection to him. There are three tabs; 'Trees', 'Origins' and 'Shared Matches'.

If you click on the 'Shared Matches' tab then that will show all the other people who have done Ancestry DNA tests that share DNA with you and also at least 20 cM with him.

He can also do the same which may also throw up some additional people.

So, these are people who are related to both of you.

You will then need to find out where these people sit on your family tree.

If there are any joint matches that you cannot locate on your known family tree then they will be linked to the unknown biological grandfather.

You can then use these people as a starting point to identify who the unknown biological grandfather might be.

[EDIT]

Sorry, just to add to this. I've been in a similar situation.

I worked with a DNA match whose mother had been adopted at an early age. It turned out that the father given on the birth certificate for her mother could not have been the person named (he had died five years earlier).

After ruling out other possibilities we were left with it being her unknown biological grandfather who was the link between us.

I did a bit more digging and found a likely candidate who was in the right place at the right time, my great grandfather’s cousin.

It can be a lot of work to find out the relationship but it is certainly possible to do.

That’s fab! I’m waiting for him to reply and if he wants to then we can meet up (with my cousin also) and go through everything together
I have loads of photos of my gran and the rest of the family I can share

How exciting. Long List Families in real life!

I manage my DH DNA account and on contact with a close match to him, and his late mother have discovered a family secret.

The match was looking for their birth father as they had not been told by their mother. I have solved the problem - narrowed down to DH Maternal line and it is a cousin to her. Age, location and times fit. I have not said anything to the DNA match.