DNA testing out of curiosity

In 2010, Tina Collins, a 62-year-old American professor, sent a sample of her saliva to a DNA testing center for a DNA test out of curiosity. Tina wanted to know what more the DNA could reveal about her family history and origins that she didn't know, in addition to her parents' British and Irish roots.

But when the results came back, Tina was completely shocked that her DNA contained half of the genes of Jews from Eastern Europe and the Middle East. Where did this Jewish ancestry come from? This unexpected discovery started Tina on an eight-year journey to discover the mystery of her family's identity.

Mother's family lineage

Tina decided to start with her mother's family. Alice Collins is Tina's mother, and mother Alice has kept an old family tree. Once again, Tina opened this family tree, which very clearly recorded the composition and branches of her mother's family, dating back to the 16th century. This genealogy can once again affirm that all members of the mother's family are of Irish, English and Scottish origin. It is unlikely then that Jewish ancestry was present in the mother's family, unless it was a family scandal that could not be disclosed.

Father's family lineage

When the possibility of mother's family was initially ruled out, Tina naturally began to study the lineage of her father's family. Tina's father's name was Jim Collins, and Tina could not find any information about her father's family history, except for his birth certificate. Jim's birth certificate states: Jim was born in the Bronx, New York, his father's name is Joseph is a driver, and his mother's name is Katie is a housewife.

Tina also learned from her father, Jim, who was the son of Irish immigrants, that Jim's mother had died when he was very young. After Jim's mother, Katie, died, his father, Joseph, took his three children and sent them all to an orphanage.

The three children spent their childhood in an orphanage. Jim's sister died of an early illness at the orphanage, and Jim and his brother lived in the orphanage until they were adults. After leaving the orphanage, the two brothers still had contact, but rarely walked.

After his father, Jim, came out of the orphanage, he joined the army for a few years of military service and became a prison guard after his discharge, during which he married Tina's mother, Alice. Both father Jim and mother Alice were devout Catholics. Tina's mother Alice passed away in 1997, and father Jim died two years later in 1999.

In her investigation of the orphanage where her father grew up, Tina discovers that the orphanage no longer exists and that the original orphanage has been converted into a Catholic school.

Through a visit to the school, the most useful information Tina found was the roster of the orphanage, where she found the time of admission and discharge of her father Jim at that time, and no other more valuable information.

DNA kits in 2012

Thanks to the popularity of DNA kits in 2012, testing DNA has become even easier. Tina had her DNA matched with her sister Jerry again, and it turned out that her sister, like her, had genes from Eastern European and Middle Eastern Jews in the other half of her DNA, in addition to being fifty percent Irish and British. The results of the test proved that they were biological sisters of the same father and mother. So the speculation that the parents had an affair could be disproved. So what else could be the reason?

DNA testing of other members of the family

To further unravel the mystery of her Jewish ancestry, Tina sought out other family members for DNA matches, trying to find some clues from these lineages. From the DNA test from her mother's family her cousin could find their similar genes, which also proved their blood relationship.

Then in her father's family, Tina found her father's brother's son, her cousin for comparison, but the results were very surprising, they have no similar DNA. this can also indirectly indicate that Tina's father Jim and his brother do not have any blood relationship, of course, can not exclude some other special circumstances.

Could Jim have been adopted by his parents? Why is he not related to his own parents by blood? Once again, this explains the different characteristics of Jim and the other members of his family, such as hair color, looks and height, etc. Jim's parents and younger siblings are tall, blond, and blue-eyed while his father Jim is the only one who is short at 1 meter 7, with black hair and dark brown eyes. So who was his father Jim? How do you find out after so long since the previous people are dead? Where to find out?

Investigating the father's origins

In any case, Tina did not want to give up. Since the orphanage there can no longer find any useful clues, Tina decided to target the hospital where her father was born, father Jim was born in 1913 in the Fordham Hospital in the Bronx, Tina began to collect a lot of information at that time.

Tina found the records of babies born at Fordham Hospital that year, and there were 159 pages of very confusing registrations, and they were not sorted by date. All Tina could do was find some babies with similar names to their fathers, and Jewish surnames to screen.

There were 30 babies who met the above criteria, and from these 30 babies, more than 6,000 family members were branched out. After several years of data collection, Tina spent a lot of time searching and matching in the online database of DNA. However, such a time-consuming, needle-in-a-haystack search did not bring Tina any clues, which led Tina to another disappointment.

An email from a cousin

On January 18, 2017, Tina received an email out of the blue from her cousin. The email said that he found that a strange woman suddenly appeared on his DNA account and that this woman was one eighth genetically similar to him, which meant that she was related to him by blood. I hope Tina contact this woman as soon as possible, but also enclosed her contact information, I hope this clue can help Tina's investigation.

The connection with the strange woman Jessica

The strange woman's name is Jessica Benson. During her interaction with Jessica, Tina discovered that Jessica was Jewish. Jessica also discovered her Irish and English ancestry through DNA testing, and was an eighth of a genetic match to a stranger. This was something Jessica did not expect at all. Where did she get her Irish and English heritage from? Why was she related to this stranger?

September 23, 1913, was the birth date of Tina's father, Jim. Tina's intuition told her that the date would have a connection to a member of Jessica's family, so she sent an email asking about Jessica.

Jessica's response was that her grandfather, Phillip Benson, was born around that time. This excited Tina because she knew she was getting closer to the truth. By combing through the baby birth records again in 1913, Tina was surprised to find that Philip Benson was named and born in the same hospital-Fordham Hospital as her father Jim, and that even the midwife who delivered both babies at that time was signed by the same person named Allison.

Family Mystery Revealed

The truth finally came out! It turns out it was a mistake at Fordham Hospital that absurdly sent a baby from a Jewish family to be mixed up with a baby from an Irish family. Jim Collins should have been Philip Benson and Philip Benson was Jim Collins!

In 1913, hospitals had a very simple system for identifying babies, simply by the nurse's naked eye. It wasn't until the 1930s that hospitals had a more sophisticated identification system. Philip and Jim were held by the wrong nurse at that time, thus changing their lives.

To prove the truth once again, Tina did another DNA match with some members of Jessica's family. The results once again confirmed Tina's judgment that Tina and the other members of Jessica's family were related, which means that Tina had found her own family.

Without the start of Tina's DNA test, and her eight years of persistence, the two families would never have known the secret. If Jim had grown up in his family of origin, his life would have been rewritten. Living in a wealthy Jewish family, well-educated and with substantial assets.

Father Jim would also never have been sent to an orphanage, without a formal education, to live a life of embarrassment, and then to serve in the army as a prison guard.

But none of this matters anymore, the years can't be turned back, Jim and Philip are gone, and they will never know their origins. Tina can only silently pray for Jim and Philip, hoping that they can be reunited with their families in heaven.

Sometimes things in this world are just so fated that one has to once again lament this century-old, irreversible, stupid and absurd mistake!