Sarah Pilkington, 35, used a consumer DNA test to find a close family match that helped her identify her biological father. The match and the family photos that followed pointed her toward Greg Mickles; after they connected, the two spoke by phone before meeting in Washington in October. PEOPLE reported that Pilkington’s paternity had never been confirmed.
A Test Taken on a Leap of Faith
Pilkington had worried that searching for answers might make her feel like a burden. In August 2025, she ordered an Ancestry DNA kit, according to kdow.biz. About three weeks after sending in her sample, she received a close-family match.
The match was an aunt, PEOPLE reported. Pilkington’s sister searched Facebook and sent her photos of the aunt’s family, helping Pilkington identify her father, according to PEOPLE.
A Face in a Photo
Among the photos on the aunt’s page, Pilkington recognized a man she believed was her father: Greg Mickles, 55, PEOPLE reported. The two connected and began getting to know each other by phone, according to PEOPLE.
The calls became nearly daily, Pilkington told PEOPLE. Speaking before they met gave them time to learn about each other’s lives.
Meeting Face-to-Face in Washington
In October, Mickles and his wife traveled from Wildomar, California, flying to Seattle and then driving to Vancouver, Washington, to meet Pilkington, PEOPLE reported. The in-person meeting followed their phone conversations and the family search prompted by the DNA match, according to PEOPLE.
What a DNA Match Can—and Can’t—Tell You
A close-family match can help point someone toward a biological relationship, but it does not necessarily establish the exact relationship by itself. According to 23andMe, the same percentage of shared DNA can fit several possible relationships.
Users also have choices about whether to participate in matching. Ancestry says customers can choose whether to see and be seen by DNA matches and can change those settings later. The company says deleting DNA results is permanent: the customer will no longer appear as a match to others, and people with whom results were shared will no longer be able to access them.
A separate case reported by ABC News involved Susan Chambers, a Texas woman who used a home DNA test to find her biological father after 52 years apart. Chambers, who had taken the test to learn about her heritage, matched with her father's grandson and later contacted her father, Bob Dakin, through Facebook. The two met in person that March, the report said.
A KVUE report on a Dallas woman describes a similar reunion story involving a DNA test, though it is not clear from available reporting whether that account refers to Pilkington's search.
Genetic Privacy and Legal Protections
The Genetic Information Nondiscrimination Act protects against discrimination based on genetic information in health insurance and employment, according to Genome.gov. The protections have limits: GINA does not cover long-term care, life or disability insurance, and its employment protections do not apply to employers with fewer than 15 employees. Some states have additional protections for those insurance types.
