At Home DNA Testing Uncovered This TV Star’s Secret Affair and Led to the Discovery of His Adult Daughter

Have you ever wondered about your family history? Imagine the shock of discovering that you are related to someone famous—a celebrity, perhaps—after taking a simple DNA test. That’s what happened to Phyllis, a 47-year-old mother whose life was completely shaken up after she discovered the true identity of her long-lost father.

While it was once a lengthy, expensive procedure, DNA testing has become incredibly quick and easy. Kits arrive by mail, the instructions are easy to follow, and all it takes is a swab of saliva and a postage stamp to begin the process. The results are delivered directly to your front door through the mail.

Phyllis herself had never thought to take a DNA test—her son pulled the first thread. The young man had recently become engaged, and his fiancée convinced him to take the test to learn more about his family tree.

There had never been any mystery in the Thompson family. Phyllis’ son had expected a few surprises after going back a couple of generations, but nothing major. So when the results came back, he and his fiancée were quite shocked.

Phyllis’ son knew that the results should have been off because he had heard from his relatives that his family line included certain ethnicities. These ethnicities were absent from his DNA, according to the results. His mom had been one of the people to tell him these stories.

Everything she knew about her maternal side was accurately depicted on the little pie chart, but there was a big question mark over her father’s side. And, as Phyllis’ daughter-in-law pointed out, the lab couldn’t have gotten exactly half of everything wrong.

Everything Phyllis knew had been put into question—everything except her relationship with her mother. So who was her father? And what about her siblings? Her brother could offer no more answers than she could—but he did convince her to get their sister on the line.

What should have been a fun little test result turned into a full-scale ancestral investigation with Phyllis and her siblings at the center. They ordered another DNA test kit, but Phyllis’ sister would do the swabbing this time. At least that way, they would know about their relationship.

Nothing that could come with the next results would stop Phyllis from loving her brother and sister. They were her family, and she loved them no matter what. All the same, she wanted answers to these bewildering questions about her lineage.

Phyllis and her sister got their results at around the same time. They were conclusive. Phyllis remarked in an interview, “[my sister] did a DNA test, and I finally did one. It came back that [my brother and sister] were half-siblings.”

But now, another question hung in the air. Who was her real dad? Since she had never been given more than a hint when she was much younger—and even then, she couldn’t be sure if they were memories or dreams—she had no leads from her family to follow.

It turns out that DNA testing is more sophisticated than ever. The lab doesn’t just break down your ethnicity and personality predispositions—they also allow users to track where their relatives are around the world. That goes for direct relatives, too.

There was no way to find a direct link to a name, but Phyllis would have to whittle down a list of potential candidates. Phyllis had a mandate for her investigation—the results had dropped a big blank spot where her father was supposed to be.

Tree-building had just about become a full-time job. But with each blank that Phyllis and her husband filled in, they were closer to revealing her biological father’s name. It came down to just a few blanks, and the familiar name was still on the candidate list.

She turned to her husband and said, “I think I know [him].” But she didn’t mean she had bumped into him on the street or at Walmart. She meant that she had seen his face on billboards, magazines, and television.

Phyllis’ investigation determined that her father could be non-other than Duck Dynasty patriarch Phil Robertson. She had seen his face many times on A&E—but how could Phyllis have ever guessed he was her biological dad without the help of the DNA test?

Meeting your biological dad would be hard enough for anyone, but for Phyllis to have to confront such a celebrity? How stressful! The rest question was: would he even want to meet her? Well, she had come this far. She and her husband came up with a game plan.

According to Phyllis, this was probably the most challenging step in the whole process. She didn’t want to step on anyone’s shoes—Phil had a family of his own, after all. They prayed for answers and spoke to their close friends about what they should put down in the letter.

Phyllis and her husband thought a letter would be the best way to convey their thoughts to Phil, but she didn’t just want to put a stamp on an envelope and send it off. She would deliver it to him in person. She believed their mutual faith would at least be enough for him to take the letter out of her hands.

It seemed that somebody had heard their prayers—they discovered that Phil was preaching one Sunday in December, and it perfectly lined up with their travel plans. The two arrived at the church and listened to Phil deliver his words.

Unfortunately, simply walking up to Phil and speaking to him wasn’t so easy. When the two first came into the church, they watched him roll in with a team of bodyguards—or, as Phyllis described it, “an entourage.”

Upon seeing Phyllis burst into tears, Phil got scared and made a getaway out of the church building. He assumed something weird was going on—and in a way, he wasn’t wrong. But had Phyllis missed her one chance to present the letter? Not yet.

While she was still in church after she pulled herself together, Phyllis noticed one of Phil’s sons, Jase, sitting on one of the pews. She recognized him from her research and realized he could be her half-brother. Without hesitation, she approached him and asked him to deliver a letter to his dad.

Jase was more than willing to help Phyllis. He greeted her warmly and promised to deliver the letter to his father. Phyllis didn’t expect much, as the Robertson family might have more important things to worry about than a random woman claiming to be Phil’s long-lost daughter.

The snail mail letter reached the family, which got Phyllis’ plea the attention it deserved. It had arrived at Phil’s store, Duck Commander. After seeing it, Jase became curious about the letter he had been handed at church. It was the turning point.

Jase mentioned that he received Phil’s mail at Duck Commanders and found a letter from Phyllis, the same one he had received from her in person. She had written two letters: one to Jase and another to the Robertson family, which he only saw when he was at HQ.

Once they had scoured the two letters, Jase and Al came together. They needed to know if their father was really her biological dad. If true, it would mean they have a half-sister. However, a question arose: how could she prove it?

On the podcast, Al spoke about his feelings on the news that Phyllis had written in her letter. He said, “It was difficult for me to sleep. My mind was filled with possibilities. It was exciting for me. If it was true, it meant I have a sister out there.”

The brothers were expecting immediate results from the paternity test, but it was a few days of anxious waiting. They were dying to know the test results. They had so many questions—did they have a sister?

Phyllis’s journey of searching for her biological father had finally come to an end. She now had irrefutable proof that her father was Phil Robertson—star of the legendary Duck Dynasty TV show. After he received the results, Phil invited Phyllis to come and meet the family.