During the past year, I have been slightly obsessed with reading any helpful adoption material. Every time I go to Barnes and Noble I’ll come home with another book that doctors or adult adoptees have written specifically for adoptive parents.
The consensus is always the same. Even if you love your adoptive family more than words can express, every human wants to know from where they came.
One of my best friends in college was an adoptee. He had no information on his birth family. When he did look it up, he was met with circumstances that led to him finding nothing.
My friend was upset, but to my surprise it was more because of the lack of information he had on his own history rather than knowing more about his birth family. He would make jokes about what ethnicity he could potentially be. He would tell me how it would always upset him when people would explain their heritage (50% German 50% italian) and he would never be able to answer when they asked him. He said it felt like a gaping hole.
I’ve always remembered that. At the time I thought that it would be irritating not to know that information, but it was something that wouldn’t disrupt my every day life.
Then I got involved in the adoption community, and realized how important it is to have an answer to those simple questions.
In the process of trying to think of a solution for my friend I stumbled across DNA testing. Testing back then was much more limited, but I always wondered about its potential in the future.
DNA testing has three main types of tests.
- Y-DNA – follows the virtually unchanging paternal line (obviously a test only available to males)
- mtDNA- matrilineal line using the mitochondria of the person being tested (both males and females can take this test)
- autosomal- biogeographical DNA that in a sense will give you a general ideal of what your ancestry is. This technology has improved greatly in the past couple of years. The sample regions have increased and with a 27 marker test you can get sometimes a VERY specific result from the test. Here is a better explanation:
Autosomal DNA testing purports either to determine the “genetic percentages” of a person’s ancestry from particular continents/regions or to identify the countries and “tribes” of origin on an overall basis. Admixture tests arrive at these percentages by examining SNPs, which are locations on the DNA where one nucleotide has “mutated” or “switched” to a different nucleotide. Tests’ listing geographical places of origin use alleles—individual and family variations on various chromosomes across the genome analyzed with the aid of population databases. As further detailed below, this latter type of test concentrates on standard identity markers, such as the CODIS profile, combined with databases such as OmniPop, ENFSI and proprietary adaptations of published studies. – Wikipedia
All three tests (assuming you’re male) can be very helpful information for adoptees.
How does DNA testing work?
The key is making sure people understand how the testing works. Let’s say your ancestors are from a rural area of South America that has never been sampled. If you take the test you will not get those results, but whatever your closest match is based on your alleles (I’m speaking strictly about the autosomal testing)- Sometimes the results can also be shocking to people who take the tests with already a good idea of their genetic makeup. Someone thinking they are 100% Irish with relatives dating back 100 years could take the test and pull up Scandinavian or Romanian. This doesn’t mean that the test didn’t work, but that your genetic code is frequent in that area of the world. This test is a great reminder that the human race migrated, and while humans do put up borders, biology and genetics are blind to it.
This is a bit of a long shot, but, there are sites like Ancestry and others where you can register the results of your mtDNA and yDNA tests and they’ll let you know if any other ‘likely related’ matches are also registered. They also give the level of the match…I forget what the terms are exactly, but, it indicates if it is a close relative like a brother or sister or a more distant relative (based on how much of the DNA matches)
My mom is big into genealogy and she found a distant relative (think 3rd or 4th cousin) through that.
Exactly, Jessica! It can trace surnames…really crazy stuff. What I don’t understand is why all those companies that do that don’t pool their databases (you will only get a hit if your relative used the same company)- It just makes more sense even for their business.
As far as finding out ethnicity, the best bet is autosomal.
That is why all three tests are equally important.
Fascinating stuff! Can’t wait to read your part 2. My mom’s very into geneology and is trying to convince my uncle to do some tests. Part of our family is from Northern Italy but in B.C. they migrated from Greece. Wonder if it would say we were Greek or Italian?
My mom had to convince her brother to do it as well.
He finally said he’d do it for her as a birthday present.
See if your mom can wrangle it from her brother as a gift…..
I wrote some of this down when I read about it a while back, too. Fascinating stuff. I’ve heard of non-adoptees doing this to find out more about their background and I’d like to do it myself eventually. Knowing where you come from is an important part of identity, which grounds us and gives us a sense of rootedness and belonging. When you come from a relatively homogeneous family all related genetically it’s easy to forget how many regular references are made to these genetic connections. I can see why adoptees who don’t know their backgrounds would feel like a big piece is missing.
Hey girl — I tried to Stumble this, but I don’t think you have a stumble button. Not sure how else to stumble it. Also, do you accept clever cleavage stories from women who have had difficulty breastfeeding and were made to feel inadequate about it?? Not sure if that’s appropriate, but if so I’ll submit. xo
I have no idea about stumbling. I need to ask the MomsLA ladies.
Yes! I accept all stories an I’d love for you to submit!…My friend Zoe was featured and she is in the process of adopting from Ethiopia. So, no kids in her house, yet- and she was still talking about how she is planning on making homemade formula.
My friend Jennilee was featured and spoke about how she wanted to breastfeed her children, but her milk never came in- and the stigma that is attached to bottle feeding.
Everyone’s story is helpful and I’d love to add yours!
Really interesting. I have a friend who was adopted and has no information about her birth parents. Definitely going to share this with her. When will the next post be?
I heard about a National Geographic project a few months ago that does this. For 100 you can swab your cheek and send it in. I thought about doing me (European caucasian), my hubby (Italian caucasian) and my daughter (Ethiopian). Now I am interested again and in a position to spend the money. How do I decide which company to use? I don’t care to find out who we are related to, but what part of the world our ancestors are from…
I look at it in a very medical way (as would be expected from a nurse) and think it would be important to have access to information such as inheritable diseases, genetic disorders, etc. etc. Now you’ve piqued my curiosity as to what your next post will cover : )
Caryn, these tests won’t give you any medical info..which i actually think is a good thing. I mean if you find out you are Jewish (some of the tests will specify Ashkenazi ) then you maybe would like to do testing in pregnancy for Tay-sachs. So, you are totally right, in a sense it may give you valuable health information, but it is mainly focusing on ethnicity.
They do have DNA testing that will give you a list of diseases you may be at increased risk for. However, I hate the idea. Some of it is familial (like the mutated breast cancer gene) but most of the information is really spotty. And the worst part about it is it will tell you things you are at increased risk for that have no prevention or treatment. If I personally am at an increased risk of a terminal neurological issue, I’d rather be surprised when it happens then worry my whole life that I may (or may not!) get it. No thank you! LOL
Learning a lot via the post today. It’s always important to know where you come from. I think I’m going to look into these test for my family to find out our heritage.
Very interesting info. I am a 53 year old Female Adoptee in Austin. I came from a closed adoption and know virtually nothing about my background. Which tests would be the best tests for me as a female to identify both paternal and maternal dna info?? I know that I would benefit from the MtDna test and would not benefit from the YDna test. On the MtDna test…..would it only match me with maternal dna?? Or would it match me with paternal dna also? I really want to know about my paternal identity and siblings more. I realize that the autosomal would benefit me as far as ethnicity ancestry. Any info about paternal and sibling identify dna tests would be greatly appreciated. I am assuming that the MtDna test is for maternal identity. Thank you very much, Debra