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As home DNA tests become more common, people are grappling with surprises about their parents

Andrea Ramirez got a DNA test for fun and learned her father, the man who raised her, was not her biological parent

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Andrea Ramirez with her mother and half-brother. Photo: CNBC

By Christina Farr

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Until recently, Andrea Ramirez, 43, thought she was part Mexican.

But the results from an at-home genetic test from 23andMe revealed that she is a mix of Northern European, North African and a little Native American.

And not at all hispanic.

Ramirez, who hails from the Bay Area and works in marketing, bought the US$199 genetic test in 2013 for a lark after her brother Danny’s own test came back with some curious results. She and Danny are both fair-skinned and freckled, and don’t closely resemble their half-siblings from their father’s first marriage, but they never questioned their heritage.

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As expected, Danny showed up on a list of Andrea’s DNA relatives on 23andMe. But his DNA was only about a 25 per cent match with hers, meaning that he wasn’t a full sibling as she had expected.

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