The Stranger in My Genes: A Memoir

Bill Griffeth, longtime genealogy buff, takes a DNA test that has an unexpected outcome: "If the results were correct, it meant that the family tree I had spent years documenting was not my own." Bill undertakes a quest to solve the mystery of his origins, which shakes his sense of identity. As he takes us on his journey, we learn about choices made by his ancestors, parents, and others, and we see Bill measure and weigh his own difficult choices as he confronts the past.

Table of Contents

Introduction
PART I
The E-mail
My Family, as I Knew It
You're Still My Little Brother
Nothing Makes Sense
Grandma Griffeth
Swab Carefully
Families Are Good at Keeping Secrets
Outlier
Chuck's Test Results Arrive
The Mystery of Ansel Griffeth
I'm Done with This Whole DNA Thing
Losing My Father
Can I Still Do My Job?
A Lesson from Family History
Results
Nothing Has Changed in Your Life
PART II
Who Is My Father?
Mom's Complicated Family
I Want to Be Your Mother
Let's Talk about My DNA Issue
Mistake
Doug's Family Secret
Back to Normal
PART III
MeetingDo You Recognize Him?
My New Family History
Dear Mr. Wyman
Are You Taking Notes?
Finding My Father
Father's Day
New Ancestor Hunt
Epilogue
Acknowledgments

• Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA
• Inheritance: A Memoir of Genealogy, Paternity, and Love
• The Foundling: The True Story of a Kidnapping, a Family Secret, and My Search for the Real Me
• The Family Tree Guide to DNA Testing and Genetic Genealogy
• Finding Samuel Lowe: China, Jamaica, Harlem
• It's All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World's Family Tree
• Genealogy Standards Second Edition
• Reunited: An Investigative Genealogist Unlocks Some of Life's Greatest Family Mysteries
• The Foundling: The True Story of a Kidnapping, a Family Secret, and My Search for the Real Me
• It's All Relative: Adventures Up and Down the World's Family Tree