I need both an adoption angel and a blind angel!

+10 votes
292 views
I'm both adopted and visually impaired. I just got my ancestrydna results this week and the person I was told is my father doesn't compute.

Either no one in his family tree has ever been tested or he is not my father. I'm super confused by the lack of info and how to use my results to locate anyone on my father's side.
in Genealogy Help by Cole Johnson G2G2 (2.0k points)
retagged by Ellen Smith
Hello, Cole. I added the accessibility_angels tag and the AncestryDNA tag to your question.

I think you need advice from someone who is familiar with reading Ancestry DNA reports. I hope your question gets the right kind of attention.
Thanks!

2 Answers

+6 votes
Hi, Cole. I'm unfamiliar with Ancestry's accessibility tools, so apologies if I misunderstand how much information you've been able to gather from your Ancestry DNA report.

Can you elaborate what you mean by how your father doesn't compute? If he has never taken a DNA test, and he is not showing up as a match for you, that is normal.

Ancestry DNA works by showing you people, matches, that share DNA with you, and estimating their relationship to you based on how much DNA you both share. For example, if me and another person share 3% of our DNA, Ancestry will guess that we're second cousins. However, it's also possible that we're first cousins twice removed, or half first cousins once removed. It can only guess all this, however, if both people have taken a DNA test with Ancestry.

If you're the first person in your immediate family to take a DNA test, Ancestry can only suggest relationships to you based on how much DNA you share with other test takers. If you haven't already, I recommend manually building your family tree in Ancestry so that it has the information it needs to start suggesting more accurate relationships to you.

For example, if you and a second cousin on your father's side share DNA, and your second cousin has already built up a tree to your paternal great-grandparents, Ancestry won't know they're related to you on your dad's side. However, if you also build up your family tree to your great-grandparents, Ancestry will be able to recognize you not only share DNA, but also identical family tree data, and will suggest the exact ways in which you are connected. This tool is called ThruLines, and it's very helpful!

I hope this can help you somehow. Let me know if you need any more information or clarification. Best of luck and happy searching!
by Natalie Cotton G2G2 (2.4k points)
Hi Natalie,

I've found that my bio mother, half sister, half uncle, and some other people on my mother's side have taken a dna test.

No one on my presumed bio father's side has ever taken a dna test because I do not match up with any of them--OR he is not my bio father. The people on my list of matches for my father's side are not in my tree at all OR they do not have trees to look at. There are a few that have small trees of less than 100, that show we share 9% or less dna. None of those people are in my tree.

I hope that made sense.
Thank you to everyone who has reached out! I found someone on another platform who is currently helping me sort out my DNA matches. She is an administrator from the FB group called DNA Detectives. So far she has confirmed my bio father is correct.

She found some mysteries in his paternal line that she is piecing together. Either my bio father, grandfather, or great-grandfather was adopted or illegitimate. This "secret" plus my existence could be why no one in my direct paternal line has taken a dna test. The adoption angel is working to build a mirror tree with 2nd-3rd cousins and beyond.

Unfortunately my bio father has chosen not to want to meet or have any kind of relationship with me. My bio mother has only allowed limited and supervised/facilitated contact in public places with me.

My hope is that one of my four half siblings will want to know me once they become adults; or an aunt/uncle; cousin; or grandparent will want to meet and get to know me.

Cheers and thanks again.

Cole
+8 votes
Hi Cole, I answered your email reply to me for help from Adoption Angels. Check for that reply and we'll be off and running on your search!
by Emma MacBeath G2G Astronaut (1.3m points)

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