Quote Originally Posted by ken smith View Post
I read somewhere where lots of siblings are doing this and finding out that they have different fathers.
I embarked on a search to find out who my maternal grandparents were last year - in the slim hope that I could obtain an EU passport. (My mother was adopted and diodn't even know her own parents). After putting in a bit of donkey work I had a suspicion as to who her mother was but a certain CCMB poster, who is an expert in the field, did some amazing research on my behalf and confirmed my suspicion. My mother was born out of wedlock and was given away for adoption by her mother, who, not surprisingly turned out to be Welsh - amd who subsequently married and had progeny, none of whom were necessarily aware of the fact that they had a half-sister. If they were indeed aware, the information didn't necessarily filter down to her other grandchildren, who I and the CCMB poster contacted. My mother's father is still unknown but I took a DNA test to see if that would help me track him. My DNA matched with shedloads of 4th/5th/6th cousins but the only ones that I have found a common relative with (just one or two of them) have not been from my mother's father's side, whoever he was.
I am not interested in searching for family for any fanciful reason and have always thought that adoptions, illegitimate children, shame, progeny of adultery etc may mean that many of our supposed ancestors are not related to us by blood at all.