Tuesday, January 12, 2021

My DNA Test Disaster by Cindy Flores Martinez

 

Have you seen those TV commercials where people take a genealogy DNA test and learn wonderful things about themselves? Their ancestry and their ancestors are both surprising and fascinating. Before my dad died, he took a genealogy DNA test, and I took one sometime later, but our experience was nothing like in the commercials. The test results only confused us. Last year, I finally realized my dad was adopted.


When I look back at the year 2020, the pandemic and everything else that happened are a blur. The one thing that occupied my thoughts the most was the discovery that my paternal grandfather wasn’t biologically related to me. My grandmother was a distant cousin. Not only was it a complete shock and a great loss, but it made me feel as if I didn’t know who I really was.


I had started writing a new book and made plans to re-write and re-publish the stories I wrote over the past several years, but suddenly, I no longer felt connected to them because I was no longer Cindy Flores Martinez. My last name Martinez was my dad’s adoptive name, and I could tell by looking at the family trees of my close DNA cousins that I wasn’t as Mexican as I thought. I needed to take a step back to try and figure things out.


Despite an exhaustive search, I still don’t know who my birth grandparents were. I'm still trying to figure things out, and I’m still searching for my real last name.


What about you? Have you taken a genealogy DNA test and learned something that changed your life?


Cindy Flores Martinez is a USA Today bestselling author who writes sweet and Christian Romance. She has an MFA in Creative Writing with an emphasis in Screenwriting. Her debut novel, Mail-Order Groom, started as a screenplay and movie project, which she shopped around Hollywood, New York, and other parts of the world. You can learn more about her at www.cindyfloresmartinez.com


9 comments:

  1. Oh, Cindy, I'm so sorry this happened. I can't imagine how upsetting it must be. I haven't taken a DNA test, and don't plan to do so.

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    1. Thank you, Magdalena. If you ever do take one of the tests, I would be interested in knowing about your experience.

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  2. I'm so sorry this was your experience. It's the primary reason I am scared to do one of these myself. I know I have a sister that I didn't know about until about 10 years ago, but I don't know that I want any other shocks. I hope you are able to find what it is your are looking for.

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    1. Thank you, Laura. That must have been so difficult to find out about your sister. Wow. I can't imagine what that's like.

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  3. I'm sorry to hear what you're going through, but I've always felt that the books based on real-life experiences turn out to be the most emotional, heartfelt stories... especially when they end happily.

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    1. Thank you, Donna. I've definitely found that writing my new story is a lot easier because I haven't had to wonder how my heroine would feel.

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  4. I have done two DNA tests. The second one with Ancestry showed I had a certain % of Scandinavia in me. That was a complete surprise. The rest of it wasn’t surprising at all. It was just confirmation. I took them in order to find my Armenian cousins whom who had no idea where they were. The family lost track of them over 50 years ago. Needless to say, I didn’t those tests at all. The Lord led my brother to the right place. (My brother will have nothing to do with God!) There’s a big story all about it but is too long to put here. All I can say is that God did something I always thought was impossible by leading my brother to the right place. My daughter and Skype and Face Time our cousins. Sorry I got off track there! Anyway, I have found other cousins and they’ve found me through DNA. We had no idea we even existed. I’m sorry you’ve had a bad experience with it. I hope it turns out to be more positive fie you in the future.

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  5. Cindy, wow, that's a lot to learn. I have not taken a DNA test.

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