When Jack, Ashley, and Traci Abbott’s mother Dina Mergeron (Marla Adams) was suffering from Alzheimer’s, the family decided to start recording her during her lucid moments so they would have a documentary of sorts to remember their mother (via Soap Central). During one of these recordings, Dina told Ashley’s daughter Abby Newman (Melissa Ordway) that her husband John had not been Jack’s father, though she couldn’t remember who was. Concerned about the implications and assuming that Dina had been confused, Abby and Ashley decided to omit the clip from the final film and keep the secret.
However, when the movie was eventually screened for the family, Dina’s confession was included and everyone discovered that Jack was not a true Abbott (via SoapDirt). This revelation sent Jack on a months-long quest to discover the identity of his biological father. He requested a DNA test be done between himself and his sister Traci (Beth Maitland) to see if they were full-blooded siblings and the results verified that they were not. Jack continued his search which led at various times to him believing that Phillip Chancellor, Neil Fenmore, or Albert Miller were possibly his father — the latter of which would have made Jack and his nemesis Victor Newman (Eric Braeden) brothers.
