T2 vs T1 stigma - anyone else feel a bit 'shamed' for having T2?

Mr_Pot said:

How does this work? How can they find DNA matches with people who didn't give DNA samples?

Click to expand...

neithskye said:

I don't know quite how it works because I searched before DNA. But many people use these home-testing DNA sites to fill in family trees. So you contact a DNA match and start figuring out how you're related. Let's say your DNA match's grandmother lived in [XYZ city]. If you know your father came from the [XYZ city] area and your DNA match is a second cousin once removed then their grandmother and your father are first cousins (or however relationships work). Then you'd get a possible surname and the names of previous generations, then you've located who you're searching for. Something like that.

Click to expand...

JohnEGreen said:

I have no idea who my paternal grandfather was my father was illegitimate so I don't even know what my family name would have been. Green being my paternal grandmother's maiden name and my dad would never talk of it. Being the son of a single mother in 1916 brought you into a lot of prejudice. So no idea either about family medical history on my grandfather's side of the family.

It's left a bit of a void in my life to be honest not knowing who you really are.

Click to expand...

Dodo said:

My father too was illegitimate but thankfully he was given his mother's surname. As this was not a common name I have been able to trace my family tree back to at least 1400. There are books written about my one ancestor, who ended up being hung from a famous castle walls and that castle now has a plaque by it's entrance absolving my ancestor from any wrongdoing. At the same time his brother was hung from a nearby Abbey. A later ancestor was burned alive in a pit at the same castle I believe for treason. So I'm pleased that my father was given his mother's name, it makes life interesting.

Click to expand...

Bluetit1802 said:

What an interesting family history! I have also been able to get back a very long way in several of my branches, to the 1500's in some cases. I also have a close ancestor that was convicted of treason! My tree just looks very lopsided with many generations on mum's side and dad's mum's side, and only as far as my dad on his paternal side! DNA has not helped me with that missing side, nor has anything else, and I have been doing this for 30 years. My dad was also given his mother's surname. It was a very common name in the area the family lived for centuries. My dad was not told he was illegitimate until he joined up just before war broke out when the army needed his birth certificate. He was always told his mother had married a man with the same surname - which happened a lot, and that he died. Grandma pretended she was a widow all her life, she wore a wedding ring and was known to everyone as "Mrs".

Click to expand...

Dodo said:

My dad was born in 1920 but by the time he was seven he had a stepfather. He faced a great deal of prejudice in the village he lived, not only because of being illegitimate but also because of his surname. I have been told that there are still people who harbour bad feelings towards this particular surname even today, which is ridiculous as my ancestor was absolved in the 1970s and is now heralded as a hero. I’m proud to have had the name.

Click to expand...

Dodo said:

My dad was born in 1920 but by the time he was seven he had a stepfather. He faced a great deal of prejudice in the village he lived, not only because of being illegitimate but also because of his surname. I have been told that there are still people who harbour bad feelings towards this particular surname even today, which is ridiculous as my ancestor was absolved in the 1970s and is now heralded as a hero. I’m proud to have had the name.

Click to expand...