Did my dad father you?

TWO years ago Nicolette Yearde received confirmation through an AncestryDNA kit that she has another sister, and now she’s on a mission to find out if she has other siblings she has not met. Born in Jamaica, but now living in the United States, Nicolette said she grew up being told she only had one sibling, her sister Michelle. However, she had always heard rumours that her father, Rendolph Yearde, may have had more children outside his marriage to her mother, but he has always denied the claims.

Still, she said, the thought never left her. Years later, in 1993, Nicolette — who said she is the spokesperson for the family — was introduced to a young woman by the name of Ann Yearde, who claimed to be her sister, but again her father denied it. Due to the expensive cost of DNA testing at the time, Nicolette said they had no choice but to accept their father’s words as true, but they still kept in touch with Ann.

In 2021, when DNA testing became more accessible and affordable through Ancestry.com, Nicolette said she bought a kit hoping to find a familial connection, but she did not. She said other members of her family also purchased kits to test the accuracy of the platform, and it confirmed their relation. Two years later, in December of 2023, Nicolette said she reconnected with Ann on Facebook and purchased a DNA kit.

In February of 2024, she said the test results revealed a 53-year-old secret: they were half-sisters. Now in possession of more than 10 AncestryDNA test kits, Nicolette told the Jamaica Observer she is willing to provide free testing to any individual who reasonably believes they share the same father and are related to her. “I do not know how many there may be or where they may now live.

They could still be in Jamaica, or they may live elsewhere in the Caribbean, the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom, or another part of the Jamaican Diaspora. Their children may know even less about the circumstances surrounding their family history. I want them to know that we are looking for them,” said Nicolette.

“If someone was told that Rendolph Yearde may be his or her biological father, or if a person’s mother had a relationship with him in Jamaica and questions remain about paternity, DNA testing now provides a way to seek an answer,” she added. She told the Jamaica Observer that her father worked for many years at the Esso Kingston Refinery, la…