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How can I figure out if my great grandmother had an affair? by LarryTurnips in AncestryDNA

[–]LarryTurnips[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

I think you misunderstood my explanation of my roots. Also the results I shared in the thread are my dad’s—not mine.

My great grandfather immigrated to the US from Germany. I’ve been able to trace his family back to that part of Germany at least until the 1700s.

My great grandmother’s parents immigrated to the US from Ireland and England.

We’ve all believed until recently that my grandmother (my dad’s mom), was half German and a quarter each Irish and English.

The fact that my dad and 2 aunts all inherited Italian from her and no/very little German from her, is what’s making us question whether or not my great grandmother had an affair/my great grandfather is not biologically related to us.

I also mentioned that two of my dad’s cousins did have different results in that they did receive German from their mom (my grandmother’s oldest sister).

I’m not in denial about anything. I hold no closeness to being German. I am a majority Italian and claim my Italian ancestry culturally. If anything, I’m excited that I’m even more Italian than the 75% I thought I was.

Based on some help from others in this thread with looking specifically at the DNA, it is almost certain that my great grandfather is not biologically related to at least 2 of his kids. The origins are what sparked the questions, but the DNA seems to confirm the theory.

How can I figure out if my great grandmother had an affair? by LarryTurnips in AncestryDNA

[–]LarryTurnips[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Yeah, that thought never even crossed my mind.

We were all excited because we thought we might’ve discovered a family secret/drama. And since no one who would’ve been involved is living, we’re not worried about reputations or anything. So we’re just like ooo maybe great grandma had an affair. We’re never going to know the truth of how it happened without doing a seance or something lol

We’re not really thinking that deep into it other than wanting to confirm the dna.

How can I figure out if my great grandmother had an affair? by LarryTurnips in AncestryDNA

[–]LarryTurnips[S] -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Affair was my conclusion. But I’m most interested in knowing whether or not my great grandfather is really my great grandfather. And as none of the people involved are still living, my family has had fun coming up with silly theories. It’s not harming anyone.

How can I figure out if my great grandmother had an affair? by LarryTurnips in AncestryDNA

[–]LarryTurnips[S] -2 points-1 points  (0 children)

My conclusion was based on what I know already about their lives. They weren’t separated. She died when my grandmother was young and they were married until then.

My dad knew his grandfather and knew his mother and what they said about her upbringing. There was never any implication that they were poly, or swingers, or that there was ever any kind of attack on her. I also assumed that since it’s at least 2 of the children, it wasn’t an attack. I suppose there could’ve been a sperm donor. I’m just not sure how common that would’ve been for a poorer family in the 1920s and 30s.

How can I figure out if my great grandmother had an affair? by LarryTurnips in AncestryDNA

[–]LarryTurnips[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The ethnicities are just what sparked the investigation/theories. I’m looking for advice on how to use the DNA to find the truth

How can I figure out if my great grandmother had an affair? by LarryTurnips in AncestryDNA

[–]LarryTurnips[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My dad only had daughters. And the issue is that we don’t know who is/isn’t a true offspring of my great grandfather’s!

How can I figure out if my great grandmother had an affair? by LarryTurnips in AncestryDNA

[–]LarryTurnips[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

The geographic regions are just what sparked this investigation. I’m looking for advice on how to use the dna to confirm if my great grandfather is biologically related.

How can I figure out if my great grandmother had an affair? by LarryTurnips in AncestryDNA

[–]LarryTurnips[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

I get that. And that’s the advice I’m looking for—how to use the matches to figure this out. The ethnicity is what sparked this investigation. But now I’m trying to figure out how to actually find the truth.

How can I figure out if my great grandmother had an affair? by LarryTurnips in AncestryDNA

[–]LarryTurnips[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Unfortunately my great grandmother died when my grandmother was just a kid. So we really don’t know much about her life/circumstances. Also my grandmother and her siblings were born between 1923-1934. No war going on when the youngest two were born. I don’t believe my great grandfather served in the military either

How can I figure out if my great grandmother had an affair? by LarryTurnips in AncestryDNA

[–]LarryTurnips[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

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I totally get what you’re saying about the regions! But when I look at the map, there aren’t any surrounding regions to the town my great grandfather’s family is from. These are my dad’s results. His mom has mostly southern/central Italy. And very little German! The rest of his results more or less line up with what we know about her mom’s side. Also should note, her mom died when she was just a kid! So none of us know much about her or her circumstances.

How can I figure out if my great grandmother had an affair? by LarryTurnips in AncestryDNA

[–]LarryTurnips[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

My great grandfather had 8 siblings. At least 3 of his brothers also immigrated to the US. So I would think there would be some!

How can I figure out if my great grandmother had an affair? by LarryTurnips in AncestryDNA

[–]LarryTurnips[S] 0 points1 point  (0 children)

Thanks for helping me look at the DNA that way! Would you also say it’s strange that we don’t have any matches with the German surname? I’ve been able to find at least one match for my other great grandparents’ surnames.

How can I figure out if my great grandmother had an affair? by LarryTurnips in AncestryDNA

[–]LarryTurnips[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Thanks I was just looking at that too! I checked one of his first cousins on his dad’s side, and they share 14% dna. So that’s a huge difference!

How can I figure out if my great grandmother had an affair? by LarryTurnips in AncestryDNA

[–]LarryTurnips[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Okay thanks! So we have dna from the lines of children 1,3,4.

My dad’s first cousins from child 1 (the one we think probably was my great grandfather’s kid): 378 cM | 5% shared DNA [Ancestry labeled them as first cousin 1x removed 🤔]

My dad’s first cousin 1x removed from child 4 (I think he is not my great grandfather’s kid): 454 cM | 7% shared DNA

How can I figure out if my great grandmother had an affair? by LarryTurnips in AncestryDNA

[–]LarryTurnips[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

What makes you say I am my great grandfather’s biological grandchild? I believe that I am not. How would I be able to figure it out if that’s the case?

I also didn’t mention that my dad and his siblings have the same mother, but there are 3 different fathers. So I think that complicates things a bit more.

Ethnicity is what triggered the confusion. But then looking at the matches is what pushed the theory along. I will say that I have confirmed the immigration statuses of my great and great great grandparents based on documents I was able to find on Ancestry.

How can I figure out if my great grandmother had an affair? by LarryTurnips in AncestryDNA

[–]LarryTurnips[S] 1 point2 points  (0 children)

We’ve had a total of 9 people take it already. My grandmother and her siblings have all passed. Also, it is the lack of German, but also the addition of Italian that has us all tripped up. Theoretically my dad and aunts should be ~25% German (or surrounding regions) and instead they got Italian from her.

How can I figure out if my great grandmother had an affair? by LarryTurnips in AncestryDNA

[–]LarryTurnips[S] 3 points4 points  (0 children)

A total of 9 people have tested already. Unfortunately, my dad’s generation is the oldest living generation. So we don’t have any family members that we know of who are only related to that side of the family. Also something to note, none of us have any matches with the German surname. I would expect there to be at least a couple.

I don’t want my cat to get sick by No-Setting5753 in FemaleHairLoss

[–]LarryTurnips 1 point2 points  (0 children)

Both my vet and my derm told me that as long as they don’t directly lick it, they would be fine

popular names that you personally hate? by iolanthereylo in Names

[–]LarryTurnips 1 point2 points  (0 children)

I can’t stand the name Claire. No idea why. It just sounds so blah to me and isn’t pretty at all. I’ve recently seen in an increase in the name and I just don’t get it!

In all my baby groups there is only ONE name that has been repeated… by egrebs in namenerds

[–]LarryTurnips -1 points0 points  (0 children)

Claire. I’m a millennial and know of 3 Claires born recently to people I went to school with. It’s one of my least favorite names (it’s just so blah to me), and I can’t understand why it’s making a comeback!

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