Billsfansinceday1 Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 Since my earliest days I have known I was adopted from Our Lady of Victory Infant Center, as was my sister 2 years later as an infant. I had the most loving and supportive parents anyone could ever hope for. We were not at all wealthy but always had what we needed and a summer vacation to a cabin in Allegheny State Park satisfied my adventurous boyhood fantasies. That said, I always wondered about my blood relatives who had to be out there somewhere. I loved my parents too much to ever ask a lot of questions about it and never pursued any information that might lead to my biological family. Well, mom and dad are gone and I decided to submit a DNA sample to Ancestry.com, mostly to find out what parts of the world my ancestors came from. I got my results in the middle of the Bills playoff game which showed my ancestors to be predominately from the UK as well as some from the Iberian Peninsula and that they settled in the St Lawrence area way back in the early 1700's. I figured that was where it would end and I was happy to finally know my origins. Six days later, I received a message in my email from a guy who was wondering who the heck I was that was suddenly showing up, out of the blue, on his Ancestry account as an extremely close relative. After a lot of back and forth messaging and a 2 hour phone call, it turns out he is my half brother, and his dad was working at Kodak in Rochester at the time of my birth. We have a large family with ancestors going back to the early 1700's and one family member who came over on the Mayflower. This has been a week full of revelations and helps with a little closure. The maternal side has some information but nothing closer than a second or third cousin and they don't seem as engaged in the process as my half brother and his side of the family. Still working on that. If anyone else is in a similar situation, DNA testing with one of the 3 main organizations is a great way to go. 6 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
row_33 Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 Cool, let us know how this goes. I have wished at times that I was from other people but I’m sure it’s not that way and accept it. a few in my life are finding interesting results due to ancestral exile and progroms and persecutions...... 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous Guy Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 That's an awesome story! So very happy for you!!! 2 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chef Jim Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 Yeah I did that DNA testing recently. Found out both sides of my family are from Germany. My mom's from Frankfurt and my dad from Hamburg. So I'm a cross between a Frankfurter and a Hamburger. Thank you thank you!! I'll be here all week! Don't forget to tip your waitress. 3 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Hammersticks Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 My Mother bought me 23 and Me for Christmas. My Father never knew his Father, as he took off before he was born. It has always been a big family secret per my grandmother’s wishes. I’m so curious to see the results. I think my Mother’s side is 100% Irish if she is correct about her lineage. My paternal grandmother is 100% Sicilian born in Siracusa. Again, my paternal grandfather is ??. How does the results link you directly to potential ancestors/living relatives? Do living relatives have to had taken the test also? This is exciting stuff. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsfansinceday1 Posted January 13, 2018 Author Share Posted January 13, 2018 (edited) 16 minutes ago, Johnny Hammersticks said: My Mother bought me 23 and Me for Christmas. My Father never knew his Father, as he took off before he was born. It has always been a big family secret per my grandmother’s wishes. I’m so curious to see the results. I think my Mother’s side is 100% Irish if she is correct about her lineage. My paternal grandmother is 100% Sicilian born in Siracusa. Again, my paternal grandfather is ??. How does the results link you directly to potential ancestors/living relatives? Do living relatives have to had taken the test also? This is exciting stuff. Yes. I think you will be surprised to see how many relatives you have on both sides but they will have to have submittted to 23 and me to see who has shared DNA. Unfortunately, Ancestry and 23 are separate so you won’t see what is on Ancestry which has the bigger database. The amount of shared DNA and the number of shared DNA segments determines how close they are as a relative. I have over 900 relatives on Ancestry from my half brother to 8th cousins. Genealogy is a big trend. Edit: I am betting you will not be 100% on either side. The amount of intermingling of cultures is pretty amazing. Edited January 13, 2018 by Billsfansinceday1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Johnny Hammersticks Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 1 hour ago, Billsfansinceday1 said: Yes. I think you will be surprised to see how many relatives you have on both sides but they will have to have submittted to 23 and me to see who has shared DNA. Unfortunately, Ancestry and 23 are separate so you won’t see what is on Ancestry which has the bigger database. The amount of shared DNA and the number of shared DNA segments determines how close they are as a relative. I have over 900 relatives on Ancestry from my half brother to 8th cousins. Genealogy is a big trend. Edit: I am betting you will not be 100% on either side. The amount of intermingling of cultures is pretty amazing. That is really cool. I can’t wait to get my results. And you’re right about the intermingling of cultures thing. After all, the Moors did invade Sicily and changed the bloodline forever 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolishDave Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 4 hours ago, Billsfansinceday1 said: Since my earliest days I have known I was adopted from Our Lady of Victory Infant Center, as was my sister 2 years later as an infant. I had the most loving and supportive parents anyone could ever hope for. We were not at all wealthy but always had what we needed and a summer vacation to a cabin in Allegheny State Park satisfied my adventurous boyhood fantasies. That said, I always wondered about my blood relatives who had to be out there somewhere. I loved my parents too much to ever ask a lot of questions about it and never pursued any information that might lead to my biological family. Well, mom and dad are gone and I decided to submit a DNA sample to Ancestry.com, mostly to find out what parts of the world my ancestors came from. I got my results in the middle of the Bills playoff game which showed my ancestors to be predominately from the UK as well as some from the Iberian Peninsula and that they settled in the St Lawrence area way back in the early 1700's. I figured that was where it would end and I was happy to finally know my origins. Six days later, I received a message in my email from a guy who was wondering who the heck I was that was suddenly showing up, out of the blue, on his Ancestry account as an extremely close relative. After a lot of back and forth messaging and a 2 hour phone call, it turns out he is my half brother, and his dad was working at Kodak in Rochester at the time of my birth. We have a large family with ancestors going back to the early 1700's and one family member who came over on the Mayflower. This has been a week full of revelations and helps with a little closure. The maternal side has some information but nothing closer than a second or third cousin and they don't seem as engaged in the process as my half brother and his side of the family. Still working on that. If anyone else is in a similar situation, DNA testing with one of the 3 main organizations is a great way to go. Awesome story! Thanks for sharing it with us! 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Punching Bag Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 Some people on this board could be closely related to each other without knowing. I know next to nothing about the maternal side of the family for my father was divorced as a small child and he took his kids to his mother to raise until he got married. Never found out why from my father but met my mother (her corpse) in a funeral home and she did not look healthy when she was alive. I do know she was a child bride for she was 16 when I was born. I only met my relatives once at funeral home and my uncle (I assume) wanted me to have pillow from her head in coffin since I was her eldest child. It really creeped me out and I never heard from my relatives from that side of family again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 My sister did hers and it is overwhelmingly English i am going to get it done later this spring. We we will see how it matches up 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsfansinceday1 Posted January 13, 2018 Author Share Posted January 13, 2018 18 minutes ago, JR in Pittsburgh said: Terrific story. Keep us posted— i will be curious as to how this turns out! FYI, i got my wife 23 and me for Christmas and she is just mailing in the sample today. I will bet it will be an eye opener. It took about 5 weeks to get my results back but then a whole new world opened up. "Ensure your seat belt is fastened and your seat is in a full, upright position". Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Marv's Neighbor Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 Have any of them "reached out" for a loan? 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsfansinceday1 Posted January 13, 2018 Author Share Posted January 13, 2018 3 hours ago, Johnny Hammersticks said: My Mother bought me 23 and Me for Christmas. My Father never knew his Father, as he took off before he was born. It has always been a big family secret per my grandmother’s wishes. I’m so curious to see the results. I think my Mother’s side is 100% Irish if she is correct about her lineage. My paternal grandmother is 100% Sicilian born in Siracusa. Again, my paternal grandfather is ??. How does the results link you directly to potential ancestors/living relatives? Do living relatives have to had taken the test also? This is exciting stuff. I didn't answer the first part of your question. The initial test results tell you where your ancestors came from and mine showed the migration of my ancestors to the St Lawrence area in the early 1700's. In Ancestry, it will also show all people on their registry with shared DNA. Like I said earlier, the amounts of DNA and the number of segments determines how close or far apart you are. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DC Tom Posted January 13, 2018 Share Posted January 13, 2018 I would be shocked if you didn't have a biological family, and had just sprung from the ground fully formed or something. 1 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Billsfansinceday1 Posted January 13, 2018 Author Share Posted January 13, 2018 12 minutes ago, DC Tom said: I would be shocked if you didn't have a biological family, and had just sprung from the ground fully formed or something. That fact had occurred to me previously. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Buffalo716 Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 I Took a DNA test from ancestry... im Scandinavian! I always knew my German grandfather was a Viking! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BringBackFergy Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 This is very interesting. Congrats! On a side note, I’m wondering if law enforcement/State Police/FBI have access to Ancestry.com or 23andMe? It seems these websites may become a gigantic DNA database subject to state and federal search warrants. 1 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mead107 Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 Hope so Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Gugny Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 16 hours ago, DC Tom said: I would be shocked if you didn't have a biological family, and had just sprung from the ground fully formed or something. "The Odd Life of Timothy Green" Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Just Jack Posted January 14, 2018 Share Posted January 14, 2018 23 hours ago, Johnny Hammersticks said: That is really cool. I can’t wait to get my results. And you’re right about the intermingling of cultures thing. After all, the Moors did invade Sicily and changed the bloodline forever Sorry, it was the Moops, not Moors. 5 hours ago, BringBackFergy said: On a side note, I’m wondering if law enforcement/State Police/FBI have access to Ancestry.com or 23andMe? It seems these websites may become a gigantic DNA database subject to state and federal search warrants. It's bound to happen some day, if it hasn't already. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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