Claire couldn’t believe her eyes as she scanned the document in front of her. Could this really be true or did she get mail that was meant for someone else? She knew she had to tell her boyfriend about it right away.
Then she realized in her heart that there was no way that any of this information was false and that broke her heart. How could this one paper change so much about her life?
Together Forever
Claire and Mike had been together since they were teenagers, but in this moment they were happier than they had ever been before.
As they approached their 30's, the couple knew there was still one thing that they hadn't discussed that became the biggest reason that they weren't sure if their relationship could last.
A New Arrival
On their 10th wedding anniversary, the two received the news that Claire was pregnant. They both cried tears of joy and were ready to have the laughter of a child in their home.
But two years down the line everything would change and they wouldn’t see it coming.
A Truly Special Birthday
Mike was celebrating his 30th birthday and Claire wanted to do something that he would never forget. She decided to get him a beautiful cake, lots of balloons, and invite his closest friends. But she also bought him a present – a DNA kit.
She thought that nothing could go wrong on his birthday with everything she had down. But it would turn out to be a day that she would look back on with regret.
A Surprising Gift
Claire gave her husband the DNA kit and he excitedly tore open the gift wrapping. He was over the moon – she knew that he always wanted to learn more about himself.
The couple decided That Mike would take the test after the party was over. They were very excited to find out more about his history together. But they had no idea what secrets they would find.
The Past Was Comforting
Fast forward a week and Claire was reminiscing about good times going through her photo album. She looked at the pictures of her childhood. She smiled as she relived the wonderful memories from her childhood. But something would be very and she didn’t know it yet.
The Results Arrived
Mike got back his DNA results and Claire couldn’t wait for him to get home to see what they said.
She soon heard her husband get to the front door. She ran to him with the results she wanted him to open. But she had no idea what she would find inside the envelope.
Excited to See
Claire felt her pulse start to race as they looked at the page. She was nervous but also very excited to see what kind of man she had married.
The couple sat down and read the document. Then claire felt a lump in her throat as she scanned one line of text.
Can You Trust the Results?
“No way, This can’t be true, it can’t be!” Mike stammered. He got up off the couch and left into the next room. Claire just sat there, speechless.
They were both understandably upset because the results showed that the two were in fact cousins! This shattered their world and made them question everything.
More Questions Than Answers
The recent discovery left Clare completely unsettled. How was this true? How could they be related? Mike’s parents had been married for 30 years and he always held his mother close to sainthood.
But the only realistic theory Claire had, pointed to her mother-in-law having an affair with one of her uncles. Still, she didn’t know who could it be?
Unsetting Secret
Since the couple learned about this, Claire and Mike decided to sleep in separate rooms and refuse to talk about what happened. But Claire was still ridden with confusion as to how exactly they were related.
All of her uncles were happily married – it just didn’t make sense! And so, for a few days, Claire tried her hardest to put together the pieces in this unsettling story. But she wasn’t able to. She was distraught. She had to tell someone but she couldn’t. She was all alone. She would forever be living with this secret.
She Could Never Tell
What was more painful for Claire was that she couldn’t even share her secret, not even with her own sisters or her mom who visited just a month after Claire and Mike learned the truth.
She was worried she would ruin her marriage. Worried that it would blow up the rest of her family. Her father-in-law loved to mention how he married the first girl he ever kissed. But he was wrong. Everything Claire thought she knew, was in fact wrong.
The Hidden Truth
Unfortunately for Claire, she would never find out the truth about her family. Since their discovery, both Claire and Mike decided to separate.
Then, a year later, their divorce was finalized. It was a strange feeling but Claire felt at ease. She could now carry on with her life. But she wasn’t the only one whose life was shattered by a DNA test…
An Unexpected Gift
His mother looked at him in terror as her children opened their gifts one by one and all pulled out the same gift.
No one knew her secret that she had kept for so many long years. She had prayed that no one would ever know the details of her past. Now everything was falling apart and she had to stop it. One way or another.
Straight Forward Process
Most people have heard about the cute little test you can easily take in the privacy of your own home called the home DNA test.
The little box is easily available at most drug stores and people are fascinated by their unknown history being brought to life. Some people even wonder if the DIY kit can tell you more about yourself based on people long past who make up your genetic code.
Unraveling Story
There have been some interesting things that have been uncovered as a result of these DNA kits, but none so strange as the story of one man who gifted his entire family with DIY DNA kits on Christmas Eve.
“Earlier this year, AncestryDNA had a sale on their kit. I thought it would be a great gift idea so I bought 6 of them for Christmas presents.” he wrote. He had no idea the panic it would cause within his family.
Her Family Tree
“Today my family got together to exchange presents for our Christmas Eve tradition, and I gave my mom, dad, brother, and 2 sisters each a kit.”
He continued, but upon opening the gifts James got some reactions he wasn’t expecting. His mother, after opening her DNA kit box dropped the gift as if it had burnt her and looked around the table, pure fear in her eyes.
Odd Reasons
Thinking of any reason for her kids not to take the test she began to find a reason, any reason, that could stop the events already put in motion.
“You shouldn’t take this test!” the words poured out her mouth in a rush, “The chemicals in them are extremely dangerous!” But the excuse fell on deaf ears as the family explained that actually there were no chemicals in the tests at all. She scrambled for something more.
She Started Acting Strangely
Everyone could she see was flustered but they had no reason to question their mother as to why she was acting so peculiarly.
She tried again a few minutes later, “Only one of you kids need to take it since we will all have the same results. You should resell the extra kits to save money.”
She Was Flustered
Perhaps her plan had worked, she thought as everyone continued with the evening, but when the conversation about the tests came around again she couldn’t take it and stormed off upstairs, followed quickly by her husband.
What was going on? Then, an enormous fight erupted and the bewildered kids could do nothing but speculate.
Sharing the Story With the World
James decided to post the happenings of the evening on a popular social site saying, “Fast forward: Our parents have been fighting upstairs for the past hour, and we are downstairs trying to figure out who has a different dad.”
But it wasn’t as cut and dried as that, and nobody had taken the test yet anyway.
An Update Arrived
“Update: Thank you so much for all the love and support. My sisters, brother and I have not yet decided yet if we are going to take the test. No matter what the results are, we will still love each other, and our parents no matter what.”
He posted a few hours later, clearly worried about the trouble he had caused and truly hoping for the best.
Anxiously Awaiting Results
Everyone waited around the table in awkward silence until finally mom and dad came downstairs. Both parents were much calmer now and seemed to have made a decision.
Clearly, there was something going on that the kids had never been aware of, and for it to be coming out now on Christmas Eve made James more than a little nervous.
What's the Issue?
What could have caused his parents to fight like that, and an hour later be a team again?
They made their way downstairs and were finally ready to face the family and give some information that clearly was about to change the very way that the family interacted, and even how they saw themselves.
A Holiday Ruined
James’s whole world as he knew it was falling apart…he never expected a simple Christmas gift to cause such a rift in his family.
But now the family secret was about to come out and there was no turning back. Mom sat everyone down and started to confess, but the biggest question on James’s mind was: did he really want to know the truth?
The Real Confession
Mom started to speak and the anguish on her face was plain to see. It was finally time to confront the truth that she had hidden from her family for so long.
Her husband sat next to her with a pained expression on his face. Although James expected the worst, he never could have imagined the gravity of what his mom was about to tell them.
A Hard Truth
Their mother started by explaining that their father was indeed the father of the boys, but in a strange twist, he was not the father of the girls.
But how was this even possible? And had their father known before the DNA kits had forced the secret out? Their mother started to cry as she told them everything.
Another Side of the Story
James recounts the evening events in a witty paragraph: ‘Update 2: CHRISTMAS ISN’T RUINED! My mistake actually turned into a Christmas miracle. Turns out my sister’s father passed away shortly after she was born.’
And it also turned out that their father had known their mother’s secret all along. But this raised another question.
The Whole Story
‘A good friend of my mom was able to help her through the darkest time in her life, and they went on to fall in love and create the rest of our family,’ James wrote.
So why had their mom not told the children about their parentage if her husband had been with her every step of the way?
There's No Right Time
Their father already knew that he didn’t father the first two children. So, was it a secret that once begun she didn’t know how to end it? No time seemed right and then it was too late and each passing day and year made the lie seem bigger and more impossible to tell? Probably exactly that. James continued…
‘They never told us because of how hard it was for my mom. Last night she was strong enough to share stories and photos with us for the first time, and it truly brought us even closer together as a family. This is a Christmas we will never forget. And yes, we are all excited to get our test results. Merry Christmas everyone!’