NPE DISCOVERY

• Have you done an at-home DNA test and been surprised by the results?
• Have you been contacted by someone previously unknown to you with a claim of being a close relative?
• Have you been informed by a close family member that you are not a genetic relative?
• Are you experiencing feelings of anger, sadness, confusion, and even betrayal?

WE CAN HELP!

With the tremendous increase over the past 10 years of in-home DNA testing, more and more of us are finding surprises in our close family relationships.  Family members that we assumed to be biological relatives, parents, siblings, or cousins, are surprisingly not genetically related to us. The major DNA testing companies would like you to think that taking an at-home DNA test would lead to fun discoveries of previously unknown close relative or ethnic heritage.  The truth is that these previously unknown discoveries can be confusing at first but devastating in the long run.  It can affect not only your identity, but the identity of your current family. It can also affect the identity of the previously unknown person and their current family.

Because these discoveries are happening frequently, professionals have come up with a term to describe these situations, NPE. NPE is a genealogical designation that stands for Non-Parental Event, or Non-Parental Expected.  This often happens when a parent, presumed to be a biological parent, is proven through DNA testing not to be the true biological parent.  It is estimated that 5-10% of the world’s population are NPE’s.

If you or someone close to you is struggling from the impact of a Non-Parent Expectation, give us a call. David Cook has 8 years of experience with genetic genealogy. He is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist, and a person impacted by a Non-Parent Expectation.