Note: This is a true story from one of our Convergence genealogists. Pseudonyms have replaced real names to protect the privacy of those we work with and of the matches.
Kyle was adopted at birth like many around the world every year. After much time spent searching, he found his biological mother a few years ago.
Unfortunately, Kyle had not been able to identify his biological father. So, he asked me if we could help him find his father and I eagerly agreed. The thrill of assisting someone to figure out a piece of who they are is overwhelming and it is one of the best gifts you could ever give someone.
As our adoption cases are typically completed by working through DNA matches in the databases of the various consumer DNA companies, I asked Kyle to give me access to his AncestryDNA results and family tree. He came to me at a time when I had some free time after months of searching for unknown subject DNA for law enforcement. I hoped this case would be an easy solve for me.
As I poured a cup of coffee and sat down to boot my laptop, as I frequently do with law enforcement and adoption cases, I felt a sense of great anticipation; An excitement that made looking at the spinning ‘Windows’ symbol feel like hours. Alas, the laptop had booted and Ancestry.com was hastily written into the search bar. It didn’t take long and I was looking at Kyle’s matches and his tree.
Grouping the DNA matches
It was clear which matches were maternal. I grouped the top DNA matches in a group called “Mother’s side,” a tool which Ancestry thoughtfully has given us genetic genealogists. This left me with the Father’s side matches and I started to group all the top matches and look for matches with trees. Family trees, especially well developed ones, can be rare. Making note of their trees, I look for shared matches with a view to identifying common ancestors.
The first name common to a group of shared matches was Fitzgerald. My mind travels to a previous case I had worked with that last name. “That case was solved so this one will too!” I thought to myself. The closest match was N.D. at 345cM and Terry Fitzgerald at 311cM. Then Trudy Barton at 283cM. These were great matches!
Terry Fitzgerald had a picture on his profile and Kyle’s profile picture looked very similar. Sharing in the 300cM range could indicate relationships of half first cousins or first cousins once removed. I think am really close to identifying Kyle’s paternal family!
The other paternal matches were Jessie Munro at 213cM. She may be a second cousin and I made sure to note that she wasn’t related to the Fitzgerald cluster. There is another Munro match at 192cM. It’s looking to me like we should identify the common ancestral couple in the Munro cluster and then see who married the Fitzgerald in Canada. We’re getting close and I’ve just started.
I should tell you that searching for a person utilizing DNA and family trees is addictive. Once I have the goal, I’m obsessed. For Kyle’s case, I probably wouldn’t sleep well until I’d found an answer.
A South African connection
Joseph Geddes Munro was the paternal ancestor common to the Munro matches. Joseph was born in Banffshire, Scotland and he died at Simon’s Town, South Africa. Find-a-grave states, “Constable, RN Dockyard Staff. Drowned aged 38 years during the Second Anglo Boer War 1899-1902”. Further investigation led to James Alexander Munro (pictured in his Scottish Highlander Regimental Dress), the son of Joseph. James was born in Cape Town, South Africa and died in South Africa. South African records are sparse. Luckily, some descendants had tested their DNA, built trees and designated their trees and records public. Now the goal was to find out how the Munro family was connected to Kyle. What branch of the family tree landed in Ontario, Canada? We’re always looking for the right family in the right location at the right time.
It only took two hours and I found the CONVERGENCE of the two Grandparent family lines, Fitzgerald and Munro. This led to one Fitzgerald family. There were four sons and one daughter. One of the sons had passed within the last ten years and I found his obituary. The obituary listed three living sons and one daughter. One of the three sons had to be Kyle’s father. I cannot tell which son is the father with the matches I have yet.
Kyle makes contact with his birth family
Two hours after Kyle asked me to help him find his father, I knew what his last name would have been when he was born, Fitzgerald. After finding the family, I verified the connections and called Kyle. We looked at the three brothers and Kyle started reading the notes his mother had left him. Kyle called his Maternal Aunt and asked if Fitzgerald was the correct last name. She said yes and then she gave Kyle the name of the small town the father lived in. Kyle used this information to search for the family online. He found the marriage announcement for his father and his 50th anniversary announcement. Kyle asked his Aunt about the first names. She confirmed one of the names and Kyle went to work searching for contact information. I cautioned Kyle about the dangers of contacting people in adoptee situations. You need to be prepared for rejection. Kyle was only able to find his Uncle’s phone number and he called the man. The Uncle was welcoming and promised to contact his brother confidentially. Within a day, Kyle was speaking to his biological father. The man was kind and welcoming. They look forward to meeting later this year.
