Have you ever filled out a form and checked the box for your race, feeling completely sure that it was correct? That’s what Lisa Swyer thought too… until she learned otherwise. Unbelievably, throughout her entire life, she had been unwittingly checking the wrong box!
Lisa grew up thinking that her two white parents were both her real mom and dad. To top it off, she had a brother and sister; all of whom shared the same alabaster skin color…except Lisa. Despite having an olive complexion unlike those surrounding her, Lisa never questioned why she looked so different from them – until later on in life when much bigger questions unraveled before her eyes.
Growing up, the man who raised her and whom she thought was her true father consistently spoke of Ireland being his family’s homeland. Knowing that he had always been interested in uncovering more about their lineage, she chose to surprise him with a special holiday gift – finding out all that she could about their ancestral background!
To learn more about her ancestry, she decided to order an at-home DNA test despite her mother’s disapproval. Her enthusiasm for the results was palpable and she expected to discover interesting insights into their Irish roots. Little did she know that this seemingly innocent action would uncover a long hidden family secret – one which had been kept from them all along by her own mom!
Throughout her life, all of her friends had been questioning her “What are you?” What they were really wondering was what her ethnicity could be. Was she Hispanic? African-American? Hawaiian? They didn’t believe that she had a Caucasian background.
When Lisa received the results of her DNA test, she was rattled to find that the man she believed was her dad wasn’t even related to her. This realization left her feeling “traumatic” and “devastating”, an absolutely shocking discovery.
Lisa divulged the results of her DNA test to her mother, who was reluctant to provide any details about Lisa’s biological father. Despite this, she ended up finding him anyway. Appearing on the “Tamron Hall Show,” Lisa recounted how emotionally taxing this experience was for her and shared the race of their father with viewers—watch below and find out what happened when she finally connected with him!
