I began researching the identity of my grandfather in 1997. I had known for some years that my mother was born to a single mother in 1915, and that the name of her father had been kept secret from her. It was in her declining years that she requested that we find out who he was. By this time anyone who might have had access to the information had passed away, and I had nothing but family lore to work with. I began by visiting the country of her birth, the Netherlands, looking for clues. I also visited archives, and family history research centres in Canada. I found mom’s birth records but nothing included her father’s name. When DNA research became viable I send sent samples to 23andme and ancestry.com. Both attempts resulted in family hits, but no relation to my grandfather could be determined. I had essentially given up hope, when last summer I chanced upon Annemieke van der Vegt, via ancestry.com, and decided to message her about my mother and grandmother.
I explained that I had no information about my grandfather.
She responded immediately asking, “Why is that?” I told her my story.
“Have you done a DNA test?”
“Yes, 2.
“Have you uploaded your DNA results to MyHeritage?”
“Why would I do this?”
Because then you will get lots of results.”
“Why is that?”
“Because the people in the Netherlands send their DNA to MyHeritage.”
“How do you know this?”
“Because that’s what I do.”
That was my first interaction with Annemieke from DNAhulp. She talked me through downloading, then uploading. She helped me every step of the journey. She never made me feel inadequate or dumb.
Within days from the time I uploaded my results to MyHeritage, the hits started coming.
Annemieke continued to help me with developing a reseach tree, and linking together all the results that continued to come in. She researched obituaries on line. She was available any time it seemed, even though we were working through a six hour time difference.
I have since made contact with some relatives in Holland and even in Canada and I’ve received photos of my grandfather.
None of this would have been possible withough the tireless efforts of Annemieke van der Vegt. I am eternally grateful.
Aafke Heslinga Lattanzio