Home DNA Kit Test Results Drop Bombshell In Man's Family Tree
MINNEAPOLIS (WCCO) -- A Twin Cities family is dealing with the fallout from a popular holiday gift that promises to trace your roots. Now, WCCO shares their warning after a home DNA kit turned their world upside-down.
It seemed like a harmless move, after Dave Lundquist and his wife, Cheryl, watched the commercials for a simple saliva test.
"We decided to take the test and expected to get our funny and cute results," Lundquist said.
But $100 and six weeks later, Dave discovered a mysterious branch on his family tree.
"The results I got back on my test were anything but cute and funny," he said. "The more I looked into it the more shocked I became."
Dave grew up on the east side of St. Paul with his mother and father as the youngest of six children. Naturally, he expected his map to look a certain way.
"I was always told I was Scandinavian. Stories about my grandparents being born in Sweden," he recalled. "Sweden is coming up at 8 percent. Not what I thought at all."
Instead, Dave's results showed 2,000 matches made in Mexico. The real bombshell was that Dave has a different father than his siblings, a family secret he never knew.
"I don't know what my dad knew," he said.
Dave's been left to cope with the questions himself since his parents have passed away, at 59 years old, suddenly linked to a family of strangers also reeling from the news.
"Finding a new uncle, a new nephew, a new cousin, a whole new family," he said. "My hope is that something good can come from it."
The Lundquists are optimistic that family in St. Paul may eventually be comfortable enough to meet. In the meantime, they're warning anyone else of the potential for a life-altering surprise.
"If you're going to take these home DNA tests you better be prepared. It may show something you may not want to know," he said.
A spokesperson from Ancestry.com told WCCO that almost everyone who takes the DNA test finds something surprising and in most cases it's exciting and enriching. But, when the discovery can be quite unexpected, a group of experienced representatives is standing by for more sensitive cases.