Big Brother and The Amazing Race alum Jessica Graf has revealed that she just found out the man who raised her was not her biological father.
ADVERTISEMENT
"This weekend I had my whole world flip upside down," Jessica wrote via Instagram Stories on Monday, August 3.
"At 35, I'm just finding out that the man I called "Dad" my whole life is not my biological father."
RELATED LINK: 'BIG BROTHER' SHOWMANCES NOW: WHO'S STILL TOGETHER? WHICH COUPLES HAVE SPLIT UP?? (PHOTOS)
Jessica added, "I'll talk more about what I know & what I don't on Stories tomorrow."
ADVERTISEMENT
Jessica set her post to "August" by Taylor Swift and captioned it, "It all started with an innocent 23andme test. Now, 3 dna tests later, I find myself furious. You probably have a million questions. So do I. Not sure where to go from here."
On Tuesday, August 4, Jessica opened up more about her shocking discovery.
"Firstly, when I posted that Reel yesterday, I've [actually] been going through this for a couple months now. Someone in my family brought it to my attention -- some strange things about my 23andMe, and I laughed at first because it seemed absolutely mad and just not possible," Jessica began in a video.
"We started digging into it further and doing testing, and after three different tests giving the same response, I'm just slapped with a reality that I never thought I would have."
Jessica acknowledged her story is "far from rare" but that doesn't make the pill easier to swallow.
ADVERTISEMENT
"It's crazy how normal this is, and it doesn't change how I feel about my father -- the man who raised me -- at all," Jessica confirmed.
"It also does... make me aware of a truth that I wasn't aware of. I've had so many people reach out and send supportive messages, [such as] people from my childhood who knew my father and people who knew me when my dad passed and watched me grieve him for years."
Jessica said losing the man who raised her was "the hardest thing" she's "ever experienced" in her life.
"I think when you lose someone that close to you, there's an innocence that's taken away from you and you just look at life so differently, and I experienced that when I lost my dad," Jessica shared.
"And I believe with my whole heart that he did not know that I was not his child. So that's also something I'm trying to wrap my head around, is what he would say about all of this."
ADVERTISEMENT
RELATED LINK: 'THE AMAZING RACE' COUPLES NOW: WHO IS STILL TOGETHER? WHO HAS SPLIT? WHERE ARE THEY NOW? (PHOTOS)
But Jessica said she's "incredibly grateful" for everyone who has reached out to her with kinds words.
"Because I was told I was going to have to face shame if I spoke about this publicly, which infuriated me, because I don't feel shame in this; I don't know why I would," Jessica said.
Jessica also noted that her husband, Cody Nickson, has been extremely supportive during this difficult time.
"I'm so grateful for my husband, who just continues to hold me down every flipping day, and right now, I'm just experiencing spurts of emotion through normal life," Jessica explained.
ADVERTISEMENT
"So the world doesn't stop turning because of this news, and I still have responsibilities and things that need to get done, and people that I need to take care of... [But] I am getting spurts of sadness or anger or confusion or desperation."
Jessica went on to admit, "I don't think I'm ever going to find my biological father, which I will go into at a later time -- because it's just so complicated."
The Big Brother alum therefore noted that she doesn't really know what's going to happen next.
"I don't really have the time to process all of this, nor do I even know where to begin with processing it," she said.
"I'm just kind of putting one foot in front of the other right now, and I'm still in denial because SURELY three DNA tests are wrong -- but they're not. But I wish that they were [wrong]."
Jessica concluded, "I don't know the truth as far as who my dad is, and I'm still trying to figure out if I want to know and how I would achieve that. So that's just an update of where I am currently. This is all still pretty fresh and new, and I'm just taking it one step at a time."
Jessica and Cody have welcomed five daughters together: Italia Belle, Maverick, Carter, Atlas and Gemma. Cody also has a daughter Paisley from a previous relationship.
Jessica and Cody fell in love on Season 19 of Big Brother in 2017 and then got engaged in February 2018 shortly after winning the $1 million prize on The Amazing Race's 30th season.
Jessica and Cody got married in October 2018 at The Chateau Le Dome at Saddlerock Ranch in Malibu, CA.
The day after their wedding, the Big Brother and The Amazing Race couple revealed they were expecting their first baby.
When Jessica and Cody eventually welcomed their fourth baby in late 2023, the couple called their newborn "the last piece of the puzzle."
ADVERTISEMENT
Cody wrote on Instagram in 2023 how he appreciated Jessica beyond words because she "has been pregnant every year that we have been together."
"She absolutely wants to feel normal again," Cody wrote at the time, "like she can have her body just to herself, but she is also extremely dedicated to growing our family and making the sacrifices to continue to do so."
Cody added, "We love her so much for it, I couldn't imagine life without her, raising this family without her, God gave me and the kids the perfect wife and mother. We love you @thejessicanickson."
But the couple ended up getting pregnant again.
Jessica and Cody previously stated that they've always "wanted a big family," according to Us Weekly.
RELATED LINK: 'BIG BROTHER' SHOWMANCES NOW: WHO'S STILL TOGETHER? WHICH COUPLES HAVE SPLIT UP?? (PHOTOS)
"I can't explain how much I love, love having kids. I never expected to love it this much, but it's almost like a drug. I just love them so much," Jessica told the magazine in September 2022, shortly after giving birth to her third baby.
"I would like to have a fourth [baby] and I might be talked into a fifth, but no more after that."
Jessica joked about how "Cody could create a whole football team" if she'd let him.