A man shared how he discovered he has a close DNA connection with his wife – but rather than let it destroy their relationship, they decided to keep it a secret from their friends and family
A man’s entire world has been turned upside down after discovering a devastating truth about his wife when taking a DNA test.
He explained how his wife is in desperate need of a kidney transplant – but none of her family members are viable donors. So, he decided to take a DNA test to see whether he could donate one of his. He said on Reddit: “I knew it would be a long shot so I decided to get tested to see if I could donate. I got a call the other day saying that I was a match.
“The doctor then said something about wanting to do additional testing due to some information from the HLA tissue test results. I didn’t think much of it and agreed.”
However, when reviewing the results, the doctor noticed something unusual – they shared an “abnormally high match percentage” of DNA with one another. He said: “[The doctor] explained that because of how DNA information is passed down through generations a parent to a child could have at least a 50% match. Siblings could have a 0-100% match. It was rare to have a high match as husband and wife.”
He went on to explain how he was put up for adoption before his birth – and doesn’t know anything about his birth parents. Not wanting to create further complications, the man decided to donate his kidney and keep their DNA connection a secret from his wife.
But two years later, when she’d recovered from the surgery and started researching her family’s heritage by coincidence, he knew he had to come clean. Between this time, he’d privately figured out his wife’s father was also his father – and his mother was his high school romance.
He strongly believes his father knew nothing about his ex-girlfriend’s pregnancy as her parents ended their relationship and moved away. In an updated Reddit post, he added: “I gave her the letter I had written before the surgery. She went from curious-happy-crying – to intense concentration-unreadable. In my head, I basically handed her divorce papers, and I would never see her or my kids again.
“Our life that we have built just got nuked. When I get nervous, I pace back and forth. When she finished reading it, she took a moment then came over to me, stopped me from pacing. Said to look at her, smile with a genuine smile, and said ‘you are the dumbest, smart person I know’. Then kissed me.”
The couple decided to keep their DNA connection a secret from everyone – including their children until they’re old enough to understand and decide whether they want to do their own DNA tests. Commenting on his post, one user said: “I’m so glad that you and your wife are doing good! And she sounds like a great person, you’ll work through this. I’d say tell your father-in-law . He deserves to know, and it would give him a real closure.
“The explanation he never had. I think you’d want to know if you’d have another child out there too, right? Especially when he/she ends up being married to your kid. This doesn’t change anything, you’re still who you are and he is who he is. I just think it would be the fairest thing to do.”
Another user added: “I’m a baby nurse and have seen this happen a handful of times. It’s more common than you’d think. Very similar stories of chance meetings and falling for each other. You have an incredible opportunity to help your wife. Your kids are healthy. And like you said – no one else needs to know if you don’t want to share.”
