Reply #11: Just remember what kind of eggs you might be cracking

[sybylla]

I've seen studies like the one in this article (though I can't find them at the moment) that suggest the father on the birth certificate, the one everyone thought was the father, will not always be the father. DNA is only as fool proof as we are. I've even heard numbers on more recent studies that suggest the rate of nonfatherhood is higher - more like 10-15% rather than the 4% suggested in the article below.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/health/4137506.stm
One in 25 fathers 'not the daddy'

Up to one in 25 dads could unknowingly be raising another man's child, UK health researchers estimate.

Increasing use of genetic testing for medical and legal reasons means more couples are discovering the biological proof of who fathered the child.

The Liverpool John Moores University team reached its estimate based on research findings published between 1950 and 2004.

The study appears in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

<snip>

Whether it's as close as your father or as distant as your 4th great grandfather, what will you do with the information that comes back if it says you don't "belong"? How certain will you be that it means anything to your family history. Without further testing, you can't know what generation your family diverged from the tree. Will you care?

I've found a family association that has been working to find volunteers for y-chromasome DNA. Based on the results of one test, they have decided my ancestor isn't descended from the family it's always thought he was descended from. What that means is that until more testing is done, the whole tree is up in the air.

I only say this to warn you to be careful what you wish for.