Hi all, I just recently found out the man that raised me is not my biological father. My Mother was
I just recently found out the man that raised me is not my biological father. My Mother was pregnant to a middle eastern man when my parents met. This was 1971 in the United Kingdom. I would like to find my biological father and / or relatives?
His name was Osama Hammad. My Mother broke it off with him sometime in Aug 1971 and never heard from him again. My biological father was finishing his engineering apprenticeship at British company Marconi ( no longer in existence) in 1971. He lived in Jordan at the time ( and was heading back there), but his family were from Nablus, Palestine ( apparently displaced at end of world war 2). He would be early to late 70's now. I am so new to this. I would appreciate any advice as to how to find someone in the Middle East? I've been searching online with little success. The only other information I have is his father in 1971 owned / ran a shipping / communications company in the Middle East called Hammad & Kamal.
Thank you in advance for any assistance.
P x
Answers
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Paul, I see that you have not had an answer yet. Researching in the Middle East is not something that I have done. I notice that Osama Hammad is a pretty common name. (Take a peek at LinkedIn)
Perhaps someone in the @British Isles Family History Research or the @Asia Genealogy Research can offer some assistance with this question.
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Paul, have you DNA tested? If not I would recommend you test with Ancestry and upload the raw data to MyHeritage. This will help you find both paternal and maternal relatives depending on whether they have tested in the same place or not.
I am not sure to what extent people in the middle east test but your father and/or close family could be living anywhere by now.
You will still need some advice about researching in the Middle East as well though because working with DNA also requires an understanding of the paper trail. DNA testing will potentially (depending on the extent to which your relatives have tested) push you in the right direction by providing you with clues as to where to look for close paternal family.
Best wishes for your search.
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Hi Carolyn, many thanks. I will try both your suggestions.. I have had a look around on LINkedIn. There are a few Osama Hammad's without photos from Jordan. I may try them.
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Thank you for your advice. I've just taken a DNA test through MyHeritage.com and waiting to hear back. Sounds like Ancestry and MyHeritage don't link up so I will send my results to them also.
Yes I agree I need some advice specifically pertaining to searches in the Middle East. Amman for example in Jordan does have a library with public records but the website is entirely in Arabic. So I may need some help with that.
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Unfortunately, Ancestry does not take uploads from other sites so if you want to be in that database, you will need to test there as well.
As you have already tested at MyHeritage, I suggest you familiarise yourself with that first and see what you can learn from DNA matching there. Then consider testing at Ancestry. The more databases you can get your DNA in the better because, if your relatives have tested, you have no way of knowing which database they are in and you may have paternal relatives scattered across databases if they have tested.
The main reason people suggest Ancestry first is because it has the largest database. However, MyHeritage has a significant sized database so should hopefully prove useful.
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Thank you bjnl, this has been hugely helpful.
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There are records of many people who use the surname Hammad in this website: https://www.myheritage.com/research/category-5000/family-trees?action=query&exactSearch=&formId=trees&formMode=1&initialFormIds=master&p=1&qname=Name%20fnmo.1%20ln.Hammad%20lnmsrs.false&s=1&useTranslation=1
If you can discover the local place that your father lives, the local government agency may have your father's exact name and address.
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I may be able to help you navigate the website. I can read Arabic as most of my education K-12 was in Arabic. Let me know.
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have you used Social Media sites to try and locate him?
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Hi , unfortunately I don't have a local place. I just know he had a Jordanian passport with his family originally from Nablus, Palestine.
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Wow that is a very kind offer. I appreciate any time you can give it. I cannot read Arabic so that would be helpful.. I'ts details Im thin on. Apart from what I wrote I don't have much else.
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Yes looked around on Facebook / Instagram . There are more possibilities on LinkedIn. Many don't have photographs or much info. Some in Arabic.
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This seems like an important clue, but I don't know where to go with it. I hope someone else can suggest ways to find someone in the Middle East. The world used to seem so large, but with the internet it got a lot smaller. I hope we can help you make a connection.
Can anyone think of a friend that they might could ask for more suggestions?
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Thank you Carolyn. It's difficult this one. I'm also unsure how to go about this in the Middle East.
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