Wikipedia defines a Non-Paternal Event to have occurred in those instances when the Biological Father of a child is someone other than who it is presumed to be (2013, Wikipedia).
There are many reasons as to why an event such as this could have occurred. Some of the more obvious ones are infidelity on the part of the mother, as well as a parent giving the child up for adoption and or abandoning said child. Some of the other reasons that most folks do not think about are the possibilities such as perhaps the child was taken and sold in a black market scheme or perhaps the parents died and a neighbor or other friend took a child in. There are many reasons and each situation is unique.
Whatever the reason it can and does sometimes come as a big shock to the person whose life it affects. Some secrets are taken to the grave and never disclosed by family members, as such was the case with my husbands family. A secret such as this can have lasting shocking and emotional effects on a person. I remember right after my husband found out, it was not too many weeks later that he had his first heart attack. I will always say that it was a result of having found out that he was not who he thought he was. I think that it just effected him emotionally and he was really hit out of the blue with the information. Today he has come to terms with it and is looking forward to one day being able to piece his family together bit by bit.
If I could advise anyone who is considering DNA testing, just one thing. That would be to please be prepared for anything, because you just never really know!
Below is a link to a good blog post about Non Paternal Events:
Non-Paternal Events Genetic Genealogy blog by Roberta Estes. She has some really good information on her blog and seems really knowledgeable about DNA in general.
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