DNA test helps reunite three generations of women

Ms Buckler said she was in shock when she found out she had a "completely different father" and "seven other half-siblings"

Three generations of women, on three continents, who never knew they were related have been brought together following a DNA match on a family history website.

Christina Buckler, 56, from Bristol, went on a genealogy website to help apply for a dual-passport, believing her father to be Irish.

When the results came back, she not only discovered her dad was not her biological father but she had a cousin in Australia who was the long-lost daughter of her 80-year-old aunt.

She said it has been an "emotional rollercoaster" but it has given her the "first sense of belonging" she has ever had.

Ms Buckler said although she looked different from her siblings she had always "believed who her parents were".

"I go really dark in the sun, even though I've got blue eyes and I'm fair," she said.

"So I did the test and six weeks later I had all these DNA matches.

"And it turned out I had a completely different father - seven other half-siblings and a first cousin on my mother's side in Australia."

Christina, pictured centre with her siblings, said she always thought she looked different from them

Despite the shock, she said she has also "gained a sister" in her newly found cousin in Australia.

Alison Spence was adopted at the age of seven and has spent decades searching for answers about her birth family.

"We are so much alike," she said.

"We talk regularly, I think our record is six hours - you can't shut us up."

Alison Spence said since finding each other, she and Christina have become "absolutely like sisters"

Sarah Williams, editor of Who Do You Think You Are? magazine, warned that DNA searches "can absolutely destroy families".

"I've met people who wished they had never taken the test," she said.

"I would always say, if there's something in your family that makes you slightly nervous about taking a DNA test or if you mention to your parents that you're thinking of taking one and the look on their face isn't the look you might hope for, I would urge people for caution."