When DNA Finds You: A 49 cM Filipino Match, an Adoption, and the Manong Generation
By J.F.R. Perseveranda for Pinoybuilt.com
When I uploaded my DNA to Ancestry, I expected numbers, percentages, and maybe a few distant cousins. I did not expect a message that would quietly open one of the deepest and most emotional doors in Filipino American history.
Her name here will be “BK”. That is not her real name. She is a real person, an adoptee, and someone still searching for where she truly comes from. This story is not about exposing anyone. It is about honoring how DNA reconnects Filipino families that history tried to erase.
Reaching Out Across DNA
When I saw BK’s name appear as my closest DNA match on one side of my family tree, I did something simple but brave — I sent a message into the unknown.
“Hi! I recently received my DNA results and it looks like we’re distantly related. You’re actually the closest match I have on one side of my family tree.
I was wondering if any of your ancestors might have come from the Bicol region of the Philippines. I’m based in Northern California and have roots there myself.
I hope to hear back from you. Thank you.”
— J.F.
I had no idea what kind of life, history, or emotional weight sat behind that DNA match.
A 49 cM Match That Changed Everything
BK and I share 49 centimorgans (cM) across 4 segments. In genetic genealogy, that usually places us somewhere around a 3rd or 4th cousin. That might sound distant, but in Filipino families — where siblings had many children, and migration scattered everyone — that is close enough to be meaningful.
Forty-nine centimorgans is not random noise. It means we share real ancestors, real blood, and a real story somewhere in the Philippines.
Her First Message
BK’s reply came back not as a casual note, but as a piece of her life story. I am sharing it here in anonymized form, preserving her voice while protecting her privacy:
“I don’t know much about myself. I was adopted. My dad — the one who raised me — was born in the early 1900s, so he was more like a great-grandfather when he adopted me. He barely talked to me, and he never told me I was adopted. He took that to the grave. My mom who raised me told me only after he passed away.
I don’t know my biological family. I was born somewhere in the Philippines. I’ve been told there may be relatives out there, maybe even siblings. I grew up as an only child and always wondered. If you don’t mind, could you ask your grandparents if they recognize any family names?”
That message carried more than curiosity — it carried a lifetime of unanswered questions.
The Manong Clue
One detail jumped out immediately: her adoptive father was born in the early 1900s and was already elderly when he adopted her. In Filipino American history, that almost always points to one group:
The Manongs.
The Manongs were the first large wave of Filipino men to come to the United States in the early 1900s, especially to Hawaii and California. They were farm workers, plantation laborers, hotel staff, and domestic workers. U.S. anti-miscegenation laws prevented them from marrying white women, and immigration rules made it nearly impossible to bring wives from the Philippines.
Many Manongs lived lonely lives. Some married very late. Some adopted. Some had children whose origins were never properly recorded. When they died, entire bloodlines quietly disappeared.
BK may be part of one of those lost branches.
Hawaii: Where Filipino DNA Converges
BK grew up in Hawaii — one of the most Filipino places outside the Philippines. Sugar plantations, military service, and labor migration brought tens of thousands of Filipinos there.
Hawaii became a crossroads: Ilocanos, Visayans, Bicolanos, Tagalogs, Chinese, Japanese, Portuguese — all mixing, marrying, adopting, and raising children.
When BK said she probably went to school with some of my cousins, it didn’t sound far-fetched. Filipino Hawaii is small. DNA overlaps there in powerful ways.
Why Adoption Hits Filipinos Differently
In Filipino culture, family is identity. When someone is adopted without records, they don’t just lose parents — they lose surnames, provinces, clan history, and medical knowledge.
BK grew up as an only child, always sensing she might have siblings somewhere. DNA is now confirming that instinct.
What 49 cM Really Means
Genetically, 49 cM across 4 segments suggests we share ancestors in the great-great-grandparent range. That places us in the same Filipino village web — the same weddings, godparents, and forgotten cousins.
This is not coincidence. This is lineage.
Why This Story Belongs on Pinoybuilt
Pinoybuilt exists to tell the stories that migration, colonization, and time tried to erase. Filipino bloodlines were fractured by war, poverty, U.S. labor recruitment, and racist immigration laws.
BK’s story is not rare. It is Filipino American history written into DNA.
If You Are Adopted or DNA-Matched, You Are Not Alone
If you are Filipino and adopted… if your grandparents won’t talk about the past… if your DNA matches don’t make sense — your story matters.
DNA is not just science. It is a map back home.
BK found me through 49 centimorgans. Somewhere out there are the rest of her people.
Conclusion
We were scattered by history, but we are finding each other again — one DNA match at a time.
This is what Pinoybuilt is about.
For More Reading
- AncestryDNA – Understanding centimorgans and DNA matching
- Smithsonian Asian Pacific American Center – The Filipino Manong Generation
- National Archives – Filipino immigration to Hawaii and California
- International Society of Genetic Genealogy – Interpreting DNA matches
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