Sudburian Roch Vaillancourt isn’t a private investigator.
He isn’t a police detective, trained to follow trails of clues, leave no stone unturned, until he finds his suspect.
No, Vaillancourt is an engineer, and it’s a job he said he enjoys very much.
It’s his pastime that might take you by surprise, and while he hasn’t caught bad guys wanted for heinous crimes, he has helped reunite a number of people he doesn’t even know with their birth families through online DNA platforms.
Many of the people he has helped have been adopted, but he is more than willing to help out others looking to make connections.
“This is more for adoptees,” he said. “I want to give them a voice. It turns out a lot of people who test on DNA sites like Ancestry do so because they have mysteries in their family. It's not all people like me, who are just curious and having fun with it.”
DNA sleuth
Vaillancourt said he has always had an interest in genealogy, even before DNA testing was popular for the masses. It was more than 10 years ago that he and his wife submitted samples of their DNA to the website 23andMe. In those days, it cost upwards of $400 per test, he said.
Then more sites came along, like Ancestry.ca, and it became more commonplace for people to test their DNA, effectively building a much larger pool, and ultimately allowing for more matches with distant family members.
“Eventually, when I tested on Ancestry, which already had such a big user base, I found many cousins and that I had some half first cousins,” Vaillancourt said.
These finds just further fuelled his passion for DNA sleuthing, and he spent about a year learning about genetic genealogy, how DNA is measured between people, and eventually he was able to put some pieces together to find out he had a half-aunt somewhere in the world.
“I found out who she was, and I was surprised by my ability to use this information to find her,” Vaillancourt said. “We have made contact and are planning a meeting/dinner in the near future.”
During his research, he made contact with a man living in Quebec. The man was an adoptee and was searching for his birth mother, but wasn’t making much progress. Vaillancourt offered to help him in his search, and while the man was hesitant at first, he eventually shared his passwords for the different DNA sites with which he had registered.
“I uploaded his DNA to other sites, too, which is typical for genetic genealogists,” Vaillancourt said. “We upload DNA everywhere we can, because it can only result in more matches. We use all the statistical tools at our disposal.”
And, Vaillancourt did help the man find his birth mother.
The mystery of Kevin Strooband’s father
Kevin Strooband is the executive director of the Lincoln County Humane Society. While his ancestry story is a bit complicated, Vaillancourt is helping him find his birth father.
Strooband was adopted. At the age of 18, he put his name on a waiting list with the Ontario government to find out who was his birth mother. He waited six years. At the age of 24, they conducted a search and found his birth mother. Her name was Betty, and she was living in Toronto at the time.
“She told me she’d contacted my birth father,” Strooband said. “A few weeks later, I met Leo. He was Dutch, and I was raised by Dutch parents, so I thought that was pretty cool.”
The two got to know each other, and Strooband found out he went to school with his third cousin in St. Catharines.
His father offered to do a paternity test, but Strooband said he felt it wasn’t necessary.
“I didn’t have any reason to doubt Betty, even though I didn’t really look like him,” Strooband said.
Just before Leo passed away about 10 years ago, he told Strooband he had a brother living in Hamilton. It took him by surprise, considering he’d known Leo for more than 10 years at this point.
He reached out to his brother, and they also got to know each other.
Five years ago, Betty, who was now living in California, passed away.
Two years ago, Strooband submitted a DNA test to 23andme.com, and in the process learned he could potentially develop macular degeneration, a condition that causes visual impairment that has a genetic component. He said he wanted to let his newfound brother know about the risk, and then learned his brother had also tested with 23andme.com.
“We figured we should compare results,” Strooband said. “When the results came back, we found out there was no DNA match between us. It was like getting hit by a bus. He’s not my brother. Leo wasn’t my birth father, and Betty was untruthful.”
He called his aunt, who was living in Los Angeles, to find out what was going on. She said Betty had made a death-bed confession to her that there was another guy, a saxophone player no less, who could be his father. He had played at a bar in Hamilton.
“That’s all she knew,” he said. “When you make a confession on your deathbed, it’s something that has been weighing on you your entire life.”
Strooband started to ramp up his search after that. He registered and submitted DNA samples for about seven different websites to search for his relatives.
“All I need is a first cousin, and I’m having a heck of a time trying to find out who this person was, or whether they were still alive, or if they had any siblings,” Strooband said. “I was really at a dead end.”
He eventually stumbled across Vaillancourt, who offered to help. And, as it turns out, they are fourth cousins.
“He’s been following up leads from a scientific perspective,” Strooband said. “There are things outside my scope of understanding that he’s much more in line with. We have some ideas, and I won’t stop until I find out who my birth father is.
“It gets frustrating though. There are highs, when you think you’re getting close, but then disappointment when it doesn’t pan out. I’d love to see it come full circle some day, but it makes me wonder why she was so secretive with the information.”
The case of the adopted twins
Vaillancourt said one of his most successful cases involved a set of female twins, one living in the United States, the other living in the Toronto area. They had been adopted from Montreal, Que., where adoptions are still closed.
The husband of one of the twins, who asked that he not be named in the story, said his wife had been looking for her parents for 20 years. They had hired private investigators, but came up with next to nothing to identify them.
After some convincing, his wife did a DNA test with another service, MyHeritage. Nothing happened for four years, because any DNA matches were too far down the line.
Last year, her DNA was uploaded to yet another service, GEDMatch. In November, they were contacted by Vaillancourt, because the twin’s DNA matched with some people he was researching.
“I gave Roch our sad story of my wife and her twin’s 20-year search for their ancestry,” the man said. “He took that as a challenge. Roch very methodically started building possibilities of relatives. In just two weeks, he was able to find the original Irish ancestor family.”
By adding her DNA to even more databases, Vaillancourt made a breakthrough in April. He found the marriage certificate that showed when the twins’ Irish grandfather and French grandmother were married. From there, he found the twins’ mother, two half sisters and a half brother.
“I also believe I found out that the twins have twin sisters on their father’s side, but this remains to be proven,” Vaillancourt said.
“Like a bloodhound”
While many of the people Vaillancourt has or is helping to track down family members were adopted, not all of them were.
He has currently listed nine people he has helped, with another three people he has recently agreed to help, including Strooband.
For example, Vaillancourt helped a man named Sylvain Gagnon find his father and paternal family. His father is deceased, said Vaillancourt, but at least Gagnon knows his heritage. He also now knows he has a half sister, but has not located her yet.
Gagnon wrote a thank you to Vaillancourt on his Facebook page:
“This man is amazing. Wish I would have done my DNA testing years ago. Roch has been like a bloodhound in researching my family history, right down to finding my birth father and a bunch of relatives I did not know I had. I can’t thank him enough for what he has done for me.”
Turning to the professionals
Vaillancourt said he has found a lot of people get DNA tests done on these websites, but are quick to give up if they don't have a first cousin on there, or a mother or a father. That’s where genetic genealogists come into the mix.
These people use scientific methodology to triangulate, to do statistical analysis, that helps them pinpoint great grandparents or great great grandparents. They are then able to work their way down, to see who their kids married, and trace a line back to their clients.
While Vaillancourt lays all the groundwork for people to find their mystery family members, he leaves the part about contacting those family members up to the person he’s helping.
“I do the problem solving, but I leave the contacting of the people we are trying to find up to the adoptee,” Vaillancourt said. “I try to stay away from it, but it's not always possible.”
Vaillancourt is quick to point out he is not a professional genetic genealogist. It’s something he does in his spare time. However, he does consult professional genealogist Marisa Cooper in his research efforts.
A certain skillset
Cooper is also an adopted person herself and adoption disclosure activist. She met Vaillancourt while working on a genetic genealogy case involving one of Vaillancourt’s distant relatives.
At that time, he was interested in using genetic genealogy to confirm his family tree.
“I was impressed by his skill set and expertise,” Cooper said. “Genetic genealogy demands a certain skillset which includes expert deductive reasoning, education, and intelligence to confirm a family tree using DNA matching or build a family tree to confirm identity. It also requires an ability to overcome cognitive dissonance.”
There is a difference between a family history buff and a genealogist, Cooper said. A genealogist should follow research standards and back up each record with valid documentation. It's more than just copying the family tree from the back of the family bible and adding some photos.
There are thousands of Ontarians who are using DNA to confirm their family because they are denied their own birth records by their respective provincial government. Other people have discovered their parents relinquished a child but were never able to tell their other children.
“Every day, I see people posting online looking for a lost sibling, aunt/uncle, or cousin who was relinquished,” Cooper said. “Some families were split up into foster care and later adopted.”
The current system allows adoptive parents to eliminate an original identity and change a child's name, she said.
“DNA allows people to go around inhumane legislation and connect directly with a DNA match,” Cooper said. “There is no government intermediary required. The person they are seeking does not need to test in order for them to find family.
“Relentless researcher”
That being said, it's not that simple, she said. It takes specific skills and knowledge to accurately identify and confirm family. And, it seems Vaillancourt is well equipped with those skills.
After getting to know Vaillancourt, Cooper suggested he could also help people confirm their genetic identity through genetic genealogy.
“He's a relentless researcher, a quick learner and also professional,” she said.
Cooper said she knows of only a few people in Ontario who provide professional genealogy services or use traditional methods to search for lost family members.
“It's a new science and there are very few people in Canada who provide professional genetic genealogy services,” she said.
However, most people feel more comfortable hiring a professional than learning a new skill set and investing an enormous amount of time and money. It's more cost-efficient to outsource.
No. 2 hobby in the world
Genealogy is the No. 2 hobby in the world, just behind gardening, Cooper said.
“Humans are obsessed with who they are and where they come from,” she said.
As of 2020, more than 30 million people have tested at DNA platforms such as Ancestry, 23 and Me, My Heritage, and FTDNA, said Cooper.
These platforms provide not only ethnicity results, but also a database of people who share DNA with the tester. This information allows a person to test to either validate their family tree or allow people who do not have access to their identity (an adopted person, unknown father, or foundling) to build a family tree based on shared DNA with other people.
Some people seek to fill in missing information that their parents or grandparents have not passed on or are unaware of.
British Home Children
A homegrown example concerns people descended from British Home Children or sometimes known as Barnardo Boys.
More than 100,000 Canadians are descended from British Home Children. Many of their descendants never learned about their parents or grandparents' family because it simply wasn't passed on. BHC children often lost touch with their families, and some were too traumatized to discuss their upbringing with their children.
“So we now have a few generations who have lost family history and are now looking for answers,” Cooper said.
Prior to autosomal testing, it was impossible to validate a family tree. Genealogy was only based on documentation and family history. With genetic genealogy, a "paper" tree can be verified through DNA up to seven generations. It has shaken the traditional ideal of genealogy to the core and verified family connections.
“I have said so many times, DNA doesn't lie but people do,” said Cooper.
Unsolved mysteries
While the majority of genetic genealogists charge a fee for their services, Vaillancourt does not. He volunteers his time to help those he can, and is willing to help more people. However, he doesn’t really go looking for cases.
Many of the people he’s helped have been people he’s come in contact with through helping another client. He’s also offered his services through Facebook to his friends.
And, like Cooper said, he’s relentless in his pursuit.
“I've never quit on anyone, but I do have some cases that are only partially solved,” he said.
Some cases remain on hold until more people test, he said. Usually during the holidays, people buy their family members DNA testing kits, so there's usually an influx of results shortly after that.
Vaillancourt will use many tools at his disposal, such as Facebook or obituaries. He also has a full membership on Ancestry and My Heritage, so he’s able to access their ancestral records.
“I can do that to create family trees, as well,” he said.
It may go without saying, but sometimes there are mysteries for a reason. Many people who do give up their babies for adoption do so with the intention of never hearing from them again.
Others may be surprised to find a grandfather might have had an illicit affair, resulting in another child.
So, when people like Vaillancourt come a-knocking for more information, and they learn for the first time of a possible family member they never knew about, he’s sometimes met with disdain.
“It’s not always good news to find out they have an adoptee in the family, because these are often secrets,” he said. “I find often that mothers don't want the adoptees to look for them, and that's why people usually have difficulty getting their adoption records.”
Rules and regulations
Some people are also hesitant to submit a DNA sample with such platforms as Ancestry and 23andMe, because they are fearful of what might happen to their sample once it’s in the hands of private companies.
Cooper said there are terms and conditions that specify exactly what a company can do with a DNA kit.
“Your DNA belongs solely to you,” she said. Check out Ancestry’s privacy statement for DNA testing here.
Furthermore, a recent Canadian Supreme Court decision supports the Canadian law that prevents discrimination or misuse of a DNA test.
It prevents third parties, such as employers and insurance companies, from demanding genetic information from individuals. It aims to protect the genetic information of Canadians, who otherwise could be forced to take a genetic test or provide the results to employers, for example, or to life insurance companies as a condition of coverage.
“Most people who are using genetic genealogy are well aware of the benefits of DNA testing and are not threatened or paranoid about false claims spread by conspiracy theorists,” Cooper said. “Ancestry allows users to share results with others without sharing login or passwords.”
Anyone looking to contact Vaillancourt can email him at [email protected].