A dad raised five beautiful children for 30 years. He never doubted his paternity. One day, his eldest daughter showed him the results of her ancestry test. It turned out he wasn’t her biological father.

Redditor Needadvicedesperate and his wife were high school sweethearts. The couple had five beautiful children, and everything seemed perfect. But nearly 30 years after raising his eldest daughter, he found out she wasn’t his child.

His dilemma started when his daughter underwent an ancestry test. She revealed the results to him in private. The dad could understand she was shattered and decided to dig into the matter.

The Original Poster (OP) claimed he never questioned his wife’s loyalty. But the ancestry test results jolted the trust he had in her. But before he could process the news further, he comforted his daughter. He explained:

User pancakeday advised the OP, saying that if he didn’t tell his daughter while the other children knew, then she would be hurt when she found out. The person stressed that if he hid the truth from his daughter now, she would find out in the worst possible way someday. The Redditor added:

“You’re giving your wife the opportunity to tell her god knows what, and right now, you don’t know who your wife really is or what she’s capable of. She’s not the woman you thought you married. You need to protect your kids from your wife, not the truth.”

Some users advised the OP to let his kids know he loved them and needed some time to think. Redditor Hanh2 claimed that he was never too old for anything and that he deserved more. The person said she hoped the OP didn’t stay with his wife because he felt too old to move on.

The OP responded that he’d built his entire life around his wife. He explained that he couldn’t imagine life both with and without her. After reading the threads in his post, he narrowed down his decision and chose to get second tests done.

He decided to tell his youngest daughter the truth but not force her for a paternity test. He added he would file for divorce if his wife’s attitude worsened. Most importantly, he realized that the relationship he built with his kids mattered the most regardless of his paternity.