‘She Is the Best Gift I Ever Had’: Man Finds Daughter Thanks to MyHeritage DNA Kits Given for Christmas

It all started with two MyHeritage DNA kits given as Christmas gifts.  

Dennis Dubs, 68, from Winnipeg, Canada, never had any children, and for years, he had felt deep regret about this.

Dennis Dubs

For Christmas of 2019, Dennis’s niece, Amanda Lynn Schell, got a MyHeritage DNA kit as a gift from her sister. To her astonishment, she matched with a first cousin she never knew existed and even had the same name as hers.

The other Amanda — Amanda Lyn Wicklund, 47 — grew up without a father and her every attempt to find out information about him was blocked by her mother. She had only two details about him: his name was Dennis and he lived in Banff, Alberta during the mid-1970s, where Amanda was born. After losing her daughter to a tragic illness in 2018, Amanda felt a particular drive to find her father.

So on Christmas of 2019, Amanda’s husband Aaron gave her a MyHeritage DNA kit as a gift… and got a match to Amanda S. Fearing disappointment, she first looked her up on social media. While looking at her list of friends, Amanda W. found a man named Dennis — and learned that he is Amanda S.’s uncle. She even found information pointing to the fact that he indeed spent time in Banff during the 1970s.

Only then — in February 2020 — did she contact the cousin and shared the information with her. Amanda W. was concerned about how she might be received, but Dennis and his wife were no less than thrilled to welcome her into their lives.

‘The gift that kept giving’

Dennis’s niece calls the DNA kit she got as a Christmas gift “the gift that kept on giving.” Dennis says it was actually a gift for him. As he wrote on a social media post: “I discovered I had a wonderful gift, the best gift ever, presented to me. In all my years I never had children and always wondered what if… I had absolutely no idea, not a clue. It was a total surprise. I am a father! A father to a daughter I never knew even existed. In one shot I became a father, a grandfather and a great-grandfather.”

Dennis and his daughter Amanda

Dennis says that when he and Amanda W. first corresponded and then spoke, she was very worried that he wouldn’t accept her, but “she had nothing to worry about; I was extremely happy!” Dennis remembered her mother; he was 21 when he (briefly) met her. She never reached out to him to let him know he had a daughter, and refused to give Amanda any information about her biological father.

Dennis decided to take a MyHeritage DNA test himself to verify the relationship. “As we waited for the DNA test results to confirm the father/daughter connection, there was a mixture of apprehension and excitement. Even before we got the results, we started forming our relationship. This brought a great deal of joy, as I had no other children and had always thought I had missed out on that aspect of my life. I did experience some misplaced guilt as I began to learn about my daughter’s hardships growing up without a father and knowing (or assuming) I could have made a huge difference in her life.”

‘Hi Dad, nice to meet you!’

Dennis is now married to Jameela, and he says she has been very supportive. “She is always worried about my daughter’s feelings and really wanted us to get together from the beginning,” he says. “Because of Covid, we couldn’t get together immediately, and it was so hard. We talked on the phone and got to know one another that way but this doesn’t hold a candle to a good old-fashioned hug.”

Dennis’s wife planned with Amanda to surprise him with a visit for the first time — timed perfectly for Father’s Day in June 2020.

“My wife asked me to go outside and check the rose bush,” Dennis recalls. “I thought it was weird, but went and did it anyway, and then suddenly heard a voice behind me saying, ‘Hi Dad, nice to meet you!’”

Together with her son Spencer, 20, Amanda drove 1450 kilometers to surprise her dad.

Dennis (second from left) with his newfound grandson (left), daughter Amanda (second from right), and wife Jameela (right)

Amanda and her son spent several days with Dennis — plus an extra day at Jameela’s request. In September 2020, Dennis and Jameela came to visit Amanda and met the rest of the family. They also celebrated Christmas together in 2021, and keep in touch regularly. “Family has become so, so very important to me,” says Dennis. “I feel so much more rooted, I am not the same person.” He says he has some sadness over all he missed out on. “I know, had we been in each other’s life, both our lives would have been very different, and I believe better. I feel bad that I don’t have this great, lifelong bond like I had with my parents. It also hurts that my daughter never was able to meet my parents; they both passed away years ago. There is so much time to make up for, and life is so short. She is the best gift I have ever had.”

Many thanks to Dennis for sharing his wonderful story with us. It beautifully demonstrates how powerful a MyHeritage DNA kit can be as a holiday gift!

MyHeritage DNA is currently on sale for Black Friday at an unheard-of, record-low price, so this is the perfect time to stock up. Order now for yourself or your loved ones — who knows, it just might turn out to be the best gift they ever receive.