'My best friend and I took DNA test for fun – what we found out left us shocked'

A woman has been left scratching her head after taking two DNA tests to confirm whether or not she's related to her best friend.

She explained she and her friend, J, ordered a test from 23andMe and came to learn they're distantly related. The pair share 9cM on the 16th chromosome, or, in everyday terms, are thought to be fifth cousins.

Taking to , the woman said: "We’re very similar people but we definitely didn’t expect that we were actually related. At first, we figured that because our mum's both grew up in the same state it may be some distant connection between them. However, my mum has since done 23andMe and now it indicates that J and I are related on my father’s side. My paternal aunt has done 23andMe and J isn’t a match to her."

Seeking more clarity, the duo sent off for another test through AncestryDNA – but when the results came through, there was no mention of their connection. Confused, she added: "When we connected as friends or whatever it said we were not related.

"J is two years older than me. We grew up relatively close to each other, but both moved there as young children from (separate) distant states and didn’t meet until college. Like I said our mum's grew up close-ish to each other but our dad’s grew up no where near each other.

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"Are we actually related? I know that’s a very small percentage but is it even possible that it’s a false connection? Does the connection not showing up on Ancestry mean we aren’t related or that Ancestry just didn’t pick up on it? Does this happen? Does anyone have tips to help us figure out how/if we’re related/ determine a common ancestor(s)? Not really sure where to start so really any assistance would be really appreciated."

Commenting on her post, one user said: "It's so cool when you find out you and your friends are related. Me and my friend are probably like 10th cousins. We have ancestors with the same surname from the same parish in England, but the records don't go back far enough to find a common ancestor. I also almost went out with a guy who is my 5/6 cousin in two ways."

Another user added: "Surprisingly enough, my Aunt on my mum's side has had a friend she went to high school with, and was in their wedding party etc best friends. They found out they were 5th-8th cousins through ancestry. I would wager y'all are related. start building those trees." A third user said: "This happened to me (kinda) turns out my best friend is my fourth cousin. I know it’s barely even related but it still gassed us up."