Unknown Parentage
What Is Unknown Parentage Research?
Unknown parentage research helps people answer questions about biological family when a parent, grandparent, or family line is unknown.
Unknown parentage research combines genetic genealogy and traditional documentary research. It is often used by adoptees, NPE individuals, donor-conceived people, and anyone whose known family story does not fully match the available DNA evidence.
How the research works
The process usually begins with DNA matches from platforms such as AncestryDNA, MyHeritage, FamilyTreeDNA, or GEDmatch. Those matches are grouped, compared, and connected through family trees and records. The goal is not to guess, but to build an evidence-based hypothesis that can be tested.
Why records still matter
DNA can point toward a family network, but documentary evidence helps explain the relationships. Birth, marriage, death, immigration, church, cemetery, and newspaper records can all help reconstruct the correct family line.
A careful approach
These searches can involve sensitive information and living people. Good research respects privacy, avoids overpromising, and separates evidence from speculation.
Email Maria S. Canepa with your goal, the DNA tests you have taken, and what you already know.