DNA TEST REVEALS LONG-LOST SON
A 73-YEAR-OLD Victorian man has met the 51-year-old son he never knew existed after their relationship was revealed by chance by a niece’s DNA test.
Stawell retiree Peter and son Jamie Davis are making up for lost time after a simple saliva test uncovered their connection.
Jamie was born in Melbourne in 1967 after a brief relationship between Peter and his birth mother, Mena, and raised by adoptive parents.
While Jamie has long known his birth mother’s identity from official records, he had often wondered who his father was.
But when Jamie’s sister bought him a DNA test from Ancestry as a 50th birthday present, he expected it to do no more than confirm his eastern European heritage.
Instead, it revealed a cousin, Christine, who had previously completed a similar DNA test.
Christine’s aunt, Glenda Cossens, then took the test, which confirmed Jamie was her nephew.
Glenda broke the news to her brother.
The moment she mentioned Jamie’s mother’s name, Peter realised Jamie was his son.
“It was a total surprise,” said Peter, who has two other sons and a daughter.
“But I thought: ‘How cool is this that I have another son?’ It just put a big smile on my face.”