Why Your DNA Results are “Wrong”

They say “DNA never lies,” but according to messages on some message boards and social media it does. The DNA does not tell “lies” but the results can be confusing. There are many reasons why results can be confusing, but they often include:

  • incorrect parental assignments because family never let out “the truth”–in other words, the man you think was your maternal grandfather was not your mother’s father, your great-grandparents adopted their youngest child who was actually their daughter’s child, etc.
  • relatives have lied about someone’s parents for any one of a number of reasons–it happens.
  • inaccurate research on the part of the genealogist–the man you thought you had researched well and had to be your great-grandmother’s father–wasn’t.
  • you have double and triple cousins that you don’t know about–in rural areas or isolated communities this can happen and the multiple relationships may make sifting the relationships out more difficult.
  • a part of your background was geographically or socially isolated and it’s common in your family for you to be related to Bubba and your cousin to be related to Bubba without all three of you being related to each other.
  • and people lie–repeated for emphasis.
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One thought on “Why Your DNA Results are “Wrong”

  1. and the other reasons can also be that no matter what vital records, documented, and sent along asking people to CHANGE their entries on their family trees shared on many sites.
    DNA does prove that you are NOT a descendant of a specific ancestor, since many more people have tested
    and they all match.

    But you or your DNA tested person does NOT match to you.

    Yet, they refuse to change the name of their furthest paper trail ancestor.

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