People who take DNA tests are looking for answers about their genetic and ancestral pasts. Sometimes, however, the test results end up uncovering answers that have been kept secret for decades.
In 2017, a California woman decided to get her DNA tested out of curiosity to find out more about her family’s past. Yet when she got the results back weeks later, her entire world was unexpectantly turned upside down as she discovered her mother had kept a secret from her since she was just a baby…
The Christmas Gift
In the final months of 2017, Linda Ketchum from Glendale, California told her husband that all she really wanted for Christmas was a DNA test kit from AncestryDNA. Unlike many people who turn to DNA tests, the California resident wasn’t expecting to find out anything shocking.
A Normal Family
Ketchum had been raised by two loving parents and there were no family secrets or long-lost relatives that she was searching for. According to Ketchum, she was just curious about her personal genealogy. Since both of her parents had already passed away, she couldn’t turn to them to learn more.
Natural Curiosity
Without her parents to answer questions about their family histories, Ketchum felt AncestryDNA was the next best thing to help her find out more about her heritage. “I thought it’d be fun to learn a little about my genetic ethnicity, to trace how all the pieces came together,” Ketchum told the New York Post.
Submitting The Sample
So Ketchum’s husband purchased an AncestryDNA kit and gave it to her on Christmas morning of 2017. So after providing a sample of her DNA, Ketchum sent the kit back to AncestryDNA’s lab and awaited the results that would be emailed to her about six weeks later.
The Wait Begins
According to Ketchum, she wasn’t very nervous while waiting for her results, because she already knew what to expect based on both of her parents’ ancestry. “My dad was German, and my mother was Scottish-English,” she explained. Ketchum never imagined that her parents might not have been completely honest about her biological roots.
The Results
So when Ketchum got her results back in an email over a month later, the wife and mother were completely shocked by what she saw. As expected, Ketchum saw her mother’s English and Scottish lineage. Shockingly, however, there was nothing about her father’s German ancestry.
A Complete Shock
Instead, she saw she had countless matches with people who all had Hispanic last names. “At first I didn’t believe it,” Ketchum said. “But then I kept re-checking it, and I realized, oh my God, does this mean I’m . . . I’m Hispanic.” While the realization was unexpected, Ketchum’s surprise turned to dread when she realized what exactly the unsettling news meant about herself and her father.
An Unsettling Realization
The man who Ketchum had been told was her father really was German. That meant that the man she believed to be her dad wasn’t her biological father. All these years I thought I was German on my dad’s side, but all of a sudden it was dawning on me that my dad wasn’t my real dad,” Ketchum said.
A Lifetime Of Lies
Not only was Ketchum not related to her father, but her mother knew the truth about her paternity and never told her. Since Ketchum’s mom had passed away by that point, she couldn’t even confront her about the truth and get more answers about what happened.
A Confronting Sight
Finally, Ketchum was also confronted by the fact that half of her cultural identity was now completely different. “I had an entirely different ethnicity,” Ketchum said. “I looked in the mirror, and I didn’t know who I was anymore. Every Hispanic person I saw on the street, I thought, ‘Are you, my cousin?’ ”
Searching For Answers
At 51 years old, Ketchum was now forced to come to terms with the fact that part of her identity was a lie. Since she was an only child and her parents were no longer around, Ketchum started searching online for relatives who could help her figure out who her real father was.
The Biological Father
“It kind of consumed me,” the mother of eight said. While searching on AncestryDNA, Ketchum finally managed to clue together her biological father’s true identity. Thanks to online records, Ketchum discovered her real dad’s name was Bill Chavez from New Mexico.
Confirming The News
Unfortunately, Chavez had passed away when Ketchum was just 17 years old. After getting in contact with several people that she believed were her cousins, the strangers agreed to get their own DNA tests to see if Ketchum really was Chavez’s daughter.
A Spitting Image
When the new tests confirmed their relation, Ketchum was then accepted as family. Ketchum’s relatives sent her photos of Chavez, which erased any remaining doubts for Ketchum. “My grown-up sons, they’re the spitting image of their grandfather,” she said.
Newfound Clarity
As the news began to process, Ketchum also started getting clarity about things like some physical traits that she had never been able to explain. “I never looked like my dad or the man I thought was my dad,” she said. “But knowing what I know now, I see my dad in every reflection.”
Coming To Terms With Reality
“The things I used to explain away, like that I was the only one in my family with black curly hair, make more sense,” Ketchum said. According to Ketchum, it took her a long time to come to terms with everything and even found support by joining a Facebook community.
A Support System
The group was made up of other people from around the world who discovered they had a secret parent, and Ketchum found comfort that she wasn’t alone. “I never realized that there are so many others. All over the country, DNA is blowing up family secrets.”
The Flashbacks
Since discovering her real father’s identity, Ketchum has also experienced flashbacks from when she actually met Chavez as a young child that she had forgotten about. “I remember my mom bringing me to Bill’s house when I was really young,” Ketchum said.
A Long-Forgotten Memory
“I can so clearly see myself in that kitchen, Bill is sitting at the table, and there’s another woman there in a pink housecoat. She’s friendly but not warm. I remember his wife’s name was Rose. I don’t know if the woman I met was his wife.” Ketchum still can’t help but wonder what her life would have been like if she had discovered the news earlier, but has begun looking at her identity like a brick wall.
A Strong Foundation
“When we learn something that’s devastating or life-changing, it knocks some bricks out of the wall. The wall weakens, but it doesn’t tumble completely. You’ve just lost a few bricks, but the foundation is still there. And you find some new bricks to replace the old ones,” she explained. “It’s a silly metaphor, but it makes sense to me. I’m still figuring out how to wedge those new bricks in there. But my wall isn’t collapsing anytime soon.”
