A DNA Test Uncovered the Truth My Mother Took to Her Grave

For most of my life, I believed I knew who I was. I was Andy Will, son of Patricia and Robert Will: a proud Midwesterner with deep German and Irish roots. There was never a reason to question it. But in 2018, when my son uploaded his DNA to MyHeritage, he found a close match, someone who didn’t fit into our known family tree. It turned out to be the beginning of a discovery that would upend everything I thought I knew about my origins.

That match opened the door to a completely different paternal line… and, eventually, the truth. My father, the man I had known and loved as my dad for over 60 years, was not my biological father. I was 63 years old when I found out. Now I’m 69, and thanks to my wife’s tireless research — and the power of MyHeritage, along with other DNA services — I finally know where I come from.

Andy and Kathleen Will

The first clue came from Ashkenazi heritage

My wife and I are a pretty analytical pair. She was a mathematics major, I have an MBA in finance, and both of our kids pursued degrees in finance, economics, and statistics. So when my DNA results showed roughly 25% Ashkenazi Jewish ancestry, and our children showed around 10–12%, we knew something didn’t add up. Kathleen had built an enormous family tree over the years, and as far back as she could trace, there were no Jewish ancestors in it.

At first, she assumed the Ashkenazi ancestry came from my mother’s side. My mother’s German grandparents had the surnames Schimmel and Wallich, which seemed like possible links. But when Kathleen contacted two second cousins I matched with — sisters who shared those great-grandparents — neither of them had any Ashkenazi ancestry. That ruled out my mother as the source.

Still, we didn’t consider that my father might not be my biological father. Kathleen had me take another DNA test to broaden the search and found two additional second cousins with Ashkenazi ancestry who weren’t in our existing tree. She built a “mini tree” for those cousins, trying to figure out where I might connect. But nothing clicked.
MyHeritage provided the breakthrough
The turning point came when our son uploaded his DNA results to MyHeritage. Once he did, he found a match with someone named John Jacobi, listed as a “first cousin once removed.” That got our attention.

He encouraged me to upload my DNA to MyHeritage as well, to see how I connected. My results showed that John Jacobi was my first cousin.

The DNA Match with cousin John Jacobi

My wife contacted him through MyHeritage. Unfortunately, it took over a year to hear back from him, as he hadn’t realized there was a messaging feature on the platform. But once they connected, she was able to confirm that John was the son of George “Kenan” Jacobi, the younger brother of Leon “John” Jacobi Jr.: my biological father.

That meant Robert Will, the man I knew as my father, was not my biological father. That revelation came as a shock. I had lived for 63 years without any idea.

Leon “John” Jacobi Jr., Andy’s birth father

Denial, clarity, and a photo that said it all

At first, I didn’t want to believe it. I was in denial. I told myself maybe the Will side of the family just hadn’t taken DNA tests. Maybe they were too poor, or too busy working the farm. But then came the moment that changed everything.

Kathleen looked over at my computer screen and saw a black-and-white yearbook photo from 1949.

“When did you have that picture taken?” she asked me.

I looked at her and said, “That’s not me. That’s the man you think is my biological father, Leon ‘John’ Jacobi Jr.”

She stared at it. The resemblance was so strong, she’d genuinely thought it was me. We pulled out photos of me from my twenties and put them side by side with the yearbook image. Our children thought it was me too.

Left: The (colorized from black and white) yearbook photo of John; right: Andy at the same age

That was the moment I could no longer deny it. The DNA results had given us the science, but that photo gave me the truth I could see with my own eyes.

My biological father’s military records described him as 5’6″, with brown hair and hazel eyes, just like me. I had always attributed my short stature to my premature birth. I was born early, weighing just 3 pounds, 14 ounces. But it turns out, my size came from genetics… just not from the man I thought was my father.

The hints my mother left behind

Looking back, there were moments that made more sense in hindsight. In the early 1980s, my mother had me pose for a number of black-and-white “headshot” photos, carefully angled — much like the yearbook photo of my biological father. She would often say that I looked “so much like my father,” but I never saw the resemblance to Robert Will, who was over six feet tall and had completely different features.

There was also the visit.

In the summer of 1984, my mother hosted a man from Detroit — where I was born — and introduced him as “an old friend.” He spent an hour with us, held our children like he was part of the family, and even had my mother take pictures of us using his camera. Before leaving, he asked if he could see us again.

Kathleen later told me she thought he looked just like me. When she told my mother that, my mother replied, “Everyone is related to someone from Michigan.”

That man’s name was John. He died the following summer in Detroit.

I now believe he was my biological father.

Accepting the truth

Finding out this truth in my sixties was surreal. I was surprised, in disbelief, confused — and yes, I had a lot of questions. But I wasn’t angry. I wasn’t mad at my mother. I felt more sympathy than anything else. She carried this secret her entire life. I wish she had told me. I wouldn’t have judged her. Life happens.

We always knew she had a bit of a wild side, even though she was outwardly proper and reserved. But she never told me, and we never had that conversation. I often wonder what it would’ve been like if she had found the courage to explain it to me herself.

What this whole experience showed me, more than anything else, is the power of DNA and online tools. Without MyHeritage, and without the ability to cross-reference DNA across multiple platforms, I never would have learned the truth. It’s incredible what’s possible now compared to just a few decades ago.

My wife has now built out a true biological family tree for me that stretches back many generations. My real surname would have been Jacobi. My biological father, Leon “John” Jacobi Jr., served in the Navy, just like Robert Will. His father — my grandfather — was a Rear Admiral in World War II. That’s a history I never knew I had.

Leon John Jacobi’s death announced in the Toledo Blade. Source: OldNews.com

My legal father (and my biological father, unbeknownst to me at the time) died before age 60. That fact played into my decision to retire at 57: I wanted to have the retirement the dad who raised me never got to enjoy.

Knowing where I come from

This discovery gave me clarity. It shattered my assumptions, yes, but it also helped me understand myself in a way I never had. The quick wit, the wavy hair, the physical build — all of it suddenly made sense.

The only father I ever knew was Robert Will. He was a very good man, and I loved him dearly. That hasn’t changed. But now, thanks to MyHeritage and my wife’s determination, I also know the story of where I truly come from, a story that was hidden for more than 60 years.

And that, to me, is worth everything.

Many thanks to Andy for sharing his incredible story with us. If you have also made an amazing discovery with MyHeritage, we’d love to hear about it! Please send it to us via this form or email it to us at stories@myheritage.com.

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Source: My Heritage