# What makes you so sure your parents are your biological forebearers? **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [July 10, 2018, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630 "2018-07-10T01:26:02Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![ioioio](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ioioio/32/316_2.png) [@ioioio](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ioioio)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 1:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/1 "2018-07-10T01:26:02Z")
At a certain time in my life, I looked so much like my father that when he was in drag for a play, people thought it was me. We both look like his father, grandfather, and uncles. Also, Dad and I share a rare blood genotype. I don’t look like my mother, but I have her strange gnarly hands. More recently, DNA testing matched me to cousins on both sides (Mom and Dad were not tested). ---
**Author:** ![Grumbacher\_Red](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/85e7bf/32.png) [@Grumbacher\_Red](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Grumbacher_Red)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 1:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/2 "2018-07-10T01:35:40Z")
There have certainly been times in my life when I have looked at my family, just astounded and said, “No way am I related to these people!” But one look in the mirror confirms that, yes. Yes I am. I have no idea how we can think so differently and look so much alike. ---
**Author:** ![TimeWinder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bcef8e/32.png) [@TimeWinder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TimeWinder)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 1:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/3 "2018-07-10T01:39:12Z")
Not exactly in line with the OP, but what makes you think I should care? They’re the ones that raised me. ---
**Author:** ![senoy](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/dbc845/32.png) [@senoy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/senoy)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 2:39am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/4 "2018-07-10T02:39:47Z")
My Dad and I were twins. We look so much alike that my wife made me grow a beard because it was creepy how alike we were. I don’t really have much in common with my mom, but I knew the doctor that delivered me and a couple of nurses there and they told stories about my birth that seemed to imply that my mother is who she says she is. ---
**Author:** ![Beckdawrek](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/beckdawrek/32/3647_2.png) [@Beckdawrek](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Beckdawrek)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 2:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/5 "2018-07-10T02:50:01Z")
I am fairly certain the man that raised me was my Father biologically because we all (8 sibs) look similar to him. There’s no way he could deny us if he had tried too. 2 of my children look like his family too. My middle daughter looks different, she is my wild card. Though she does bear a resemblance to her paternal Grandmother. ---
**Author:** ![Sunny\_Daze](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/sunny_daze/32/438_2.png) [@Sunny\_Daze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sunny_Daze)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 3:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/6 "2018-07-10T03:21:11Z")
I am not certain, but I don’t think it really matters at this point. I don’t look like either parent, which was remarked upon constantly when I was a child. My birth certificate was issued several weeks after my date of birth. I have asked my parents about it, and not gotten a straight answer. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/7 "2018-07-10T03:43:21Z")
I don’t look exactly like either of my parents (tall and fair like dad, fat like mom) but I look a LOT like my cousin on my mom’s side. There’s a photo of him when he was a young teen, and I’m sitting on his lap as a toddler, and most of my friends have assumed it’s a photo of me with one of my nieces. Oddly enough he’s male and I’m female - he probably looks a little feminine and I look a little masculine. My brother doesn’t look one bit like me but he is the spitting image of the grandfather that we share with the aforementioned cousin. Our grandparents’ wedding photo looks like a photo of my mom and my brother. Also, I have some pretty crazy hair, and my dad has this same crazy hair as does his brother. It’s pretty unique. Put it all together and I’m convinced I belong with these people. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 4:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/8 "2018-07-10T04:00:49Z")
Physical appearance, various bits of genetic confirmation, appearance of relatives. Which doesn’t mean one or both of them wasn’t an alien, only that I am clearly related to them. ---
**Author:** ![pool](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/pool/32/4152_2.png) [@pool](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pool)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 4:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/9 "2018-07-10T04:03:07Z")
I look too much like my parents for them not to be mine. Same thing with my children, they look exactly like me, I call them my clones, they look nothing like their mom. ---
**Author:** ![digs](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/digs/32/14889_2.png) [@digs](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/digs)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 4:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/10 "2018-07-10T04:38:18Z")
I’m so much like my mom’s family that I sometimes say I’m going to start going by their surname. But I neither look nor act anything like my dad. It’s gotten to be part of family lore (especially when my mom kiddingly mentioned that Dad wasn’t my real father because I hate his favorite dish). However, I DO look a lot like a guy my mom knew in high school (she CLAIMS they never dated, but…). It comes up because we often see him on television; he was an actor on Star Trek. So I get a lot of “I think your mum was boldly going” jokes. ---
**Author:** ![BigT](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bigt/32/12044_2.png) [@BigT](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BigT)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 5:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/11 "2018-07-10T05:28:26Z")
I have the skull shape of my dad’s family, while constantly being told I looked like a younger version of my maternal grandfather. I have my paternal aunt’s fingernails, as well, and sound like a paternal uncle. Both my sister and I were also born nearly nine months from my parents’ anniversary. ---
**Author:** ![kambuckta](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/53a042/32.png) [@kambuckta](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/kambuckta)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 5:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/12 "2018-07-10T05:48:45Z")
Extended family and friends have been telling me since as long as I can remember that I am a dead-ringer for my mum. I’m 58 now, and mum has been gone for about 5yrs, but I STILL get the comments. 😃 On the other hand, due to a weird bit of family dysfunction around the time I might have been conceived/born, I’ve still got questions as to my paternity. Tried asking while mum was still alive and she got snooty and waved me away… Given that my mother, my (presumed) biological father, and the other bloke I have suspicions about are all well and truly deceased, I guess my questions are moot now. ---
**Author:** ![Tilt-A-Whirl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/e79b87/32.png) [@Tilt-A-Whirl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tilt-A-Whirl)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 6:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/13 "2018-07-10T06:00:41Z")
Not me, but I had a weird experience recently. When I was a kid, the two families in the two houses across the street were quite friendly with each other. Recently I ran into one of the now grown up kids from Family A. After a while, I realized he was the spitting image of the dad from Family B! Thank og I was able to keep my mouth shut. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 7:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/14 "2018-07-10T07:16:24Z")
Pictures of me at about age 3, and pictures of my mom at the same age show us to have been almost interchangeable. As I’ve gotten older, I definitely have traits from my paternal grandmother, so I guess I’ll keep claiming both sides of my family. ---
**Author:** ![Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/les_espaces_du_sommeil/32/308_2.png) [@Les\_Espaces\_Du\_Sommeil](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Les_Espaces_Du_Sommeil)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 8:33am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/15 "2018-07-10T08:33:51Z")
When I was a kid, people would always tell me that I really looked like my father. I disagreed, apart for features which I considered rather superficial (dark brown hair, green-brown eyes). However, around the time I turned 40, I noticed that I do indeed look like him at that age. Not a spitting image, but I now realize that the similarities are real. ---
**Author:** ![gracer](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8e7dd6/32.png) [@gracer](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gracer)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 9:30am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/16 "2018-07-10T09:30:33Z")
My parents are both giants, my dad with black hair & my mum with red hair. I’m a thin blond. I look nothing like either of them. I look like both their sisters. Like my dad’s sister, I don’t have proper nerve endings in my feet so I don’t feel pain and tickling sensation. I presume that’s fairly rare. I’m built exactly like my paternal grandmother. I have her bones so precisely I fit all her tailored gowns and jackets. Her shoes fit me like a glove, worn in just the right places. I wish I had her pointy chin, too, so I’d look more like her. My lovely oma. ---
**Author:** ![aceplace57](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/aceplace57/32/3500_2.png) [@aceplace57](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/aceplace57)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 9:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/17 "2018-07-10T09:45:03Z")
I look similar to my mom. My mom’s dad and his brothers all looked similar. ---
**Author:** ![FairyChatMom](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fairychatmom/32/21906_2.png) [@FairyChatMom](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FairyChatMom)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 11:21am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/18 "2018-07-10T11:21:39Z")
When I was younger, I looked a lot like my mom. At one point, I was looking in a mirror and I saw my maternal grandmother looking back - at a much younger age, of course. As I’ve aged, I’ve taken after Dad’s side of the family more, including the thinning hair that all the women seem to have experienced. I also shared my dad’s musical abilities and mechanical inclinations. Not much doubt in my mind that we’re all related. ---
**Author:** ![CalMeacham](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/calmeacham/32/35_2.png) [@CalMeacham](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CalMeacham)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 11:48am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/19 "2018-07-10T11:48:24Z")
I look too much like my father. and I can’t imagine my mom spending all that time in the hospital just to fool me later. ---
**Author:** ![Ann\_Hedonia](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ann_hedonia/32/319_2.png) [@Ann\_Hedonia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ann_Hedonia)\ **Post date:** [July 10, 2018, 1:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630/20 "2018-07-10T13:05:20Z")
> [@CalMeacham](#): > > I look too much like my father. and I can’t imagine my mom spending all that time in the hospital just to fool me later. Yeah, something like this. I have a chain of contemporaneous evidence…letters from my Mom to friends, baby books, and hundreds of photos of me with my family in recognizable locations at every age. So many that I can’t believe there’s any way the early ones could be of another kid, there no gap where my parents could’ve made the switch. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/what-makes-you-so-sure-your-parents-are-your-biological-forebearers/817630.md?page=2)