Searching for Roots

I've known as far back as I can remember that I was adopted. It was never anything my parents tried to hide from me. The circumstances of my adoption, however, were a different story. There were good reasons for this, I suppose, mostly that it was a private adoption, sponsored by Catholic Charities, and it was a complicated legal arrangement, at least for that time, shrouded in secrecy.

Northern "Yankee" couples coming to the deep south in 1967 to adopt babies were an anomaly, to say the least. Adoptions, in general, were odd occurrences, not the joyful, public celebrations that they are today. Mississippi, rife with racial strife and prejudice, didn't necessarily believe my new mother was in fact white, her dark olive Sicilian complexion almost earning her a seat in the back of the flight home to New York. An exercise in family expansion filled with weirdness from the start.

I know next to nothing about my biological parents or the circumstances of my adoption, in large part due to a completely doctored birth certificate. I've been told multiple versions of my origin story so I've just stopped asking, although I never really did ask in the first place. It was just too emotionally fraught a subject. Asking made me feel ungrateful. Maybe knowing my true origin story would have been too painful or embarrassing for a young child to process, or at least that was their well-intentioned reasoning, I choose to believe.

Outside of the name of an obscure coastal town listed as my birthplace, there is little to mark my brief residency in Mississippi. No hospital name, not even a time of birth. That, probably more than anything, has vexed me the most as I have always wished to have an in-depth horoscope chart of myself done and time of birth, along with an accurate location, are two of the most critical pieces of information needed.

Most of the time my adoption was a non-issue, aside from a few skirmishes involving extended family who did not necessarily see the virtue in raising someone else's "illegitimate" child (and that wasn't the word they chose to use, either). For the most part, being the "white sheep" of the family - I looked much like a little Shirley Temple during my early years - just led to curious stares from strangers and my having to hide under a towel and umbrella when we were all at the beach, my pale skin burning easily - the polar opposite of the iconic "Coppertone Girl" of the 70s - me, red as a lobster while everyone else in my family was bronzed to perfection.

The ability for people to take home DNA tests began about 15 years ago, but prices were exorbitant for most (generally $1,000 or more). I'm still not entirely clear on what exactly is being tested and how samples are compared, but the amount of information that can be gleaned from a little bit of spit is kinda mind-boggling.

Is all this really possible? "Human beings are 99.9% identical," says Joan Scott, MS, deputy director of the Genetics and Public Policy Center at Johns Hopkins University. "The 0.1% difference at the genetic level is what makes each of us unique." (Source: Web MD)

I decided to try the home DNA kit from ancestry.com first. The company that began as a digital family tree collective, expanded into home DNA testing several years ago. My choice was based on the company's positive reputation, their having the most extensive genetic database, as well their ability to trace autosomal DNA (both paternal and maternal DNA, i.e., your entire genome). I place my order online and received my kit within a week.

The first step upon receiving the kit is to activate it online simply by entering an activation code that is found on the collection tube. Once done you are ready to begin. I waited to prepare my sample until first thing in the morning so that I could bring it straight to the post office with a minimum of transit time (this was not recommended, I just decided to do that). I had assumed it was a buccal test (cheek swab with a Q-tip), but they actually collect a tiny tubeful of saliva. You need to spit into the collection tube -maybe three times for me - to collect the recommended sample size. There's a convenient little funnel at the top to make the process completely mess-free.

Once that's complete, you pop off the funnel and then close it up with a top that has an attached compartment containing a small amount of 'stabilizing' fluid. You'll see the blue liquid combine with the saliva as soon as you've twisted it shut, so you know all is proceeding correctly. After a few shakes, you pop your sample into a collection bag which is then placed inside the mini shipping box, already labeled and postage-paid. Into the mailbox and your 6-8 week wait begins. Mine was mailed on Tuesday, 9/12 so we'll see when my email alerting me to my test results is received.

One major complaint regarding these home DNA kits is that there is no testing standard - each company is using its own methodology and testing algorithms to determine results so your profile will almost certainly differ between companies. Multiple tests would yield the most accurate assessment of your genetic makeup.

Another company that is of interest to me is the relative newcomer 23andme.com (the 23 references the 23 pairs of chromosomes found in a normal human cell). 23andme is a privately held genomics and biotech company based in California. They currently have a database with over two million genotyped customers worldwide, small compared with ancestry.com, but growing daily.

23andme not only offer ancestry testing, but several different health and wellness tests as well that are FDA approved. These include tests for Carrier genes of diseases that can be passed to your children, genetic health risks that you have inherited, and other tests like your Genetic Weight, and Traits (your ability to taste, smell, etc). (Interesting sidenote: Back in 2013, the FDA had actually banned the site from selling these kits due to the risk of false positives and/or negatives that would lead to unnecessary medical procedures. The ban has since been rescinded).

Home tests involving health matters could be where I draw the line. While these could have even greater benefit to an adopted person like me - not having any semblance of a family medical history - I absolutely worry about how safe that information is and, if exposed, how it could be used against someone in the future, i.e., insurability, employment, etc. Something for me to ponder more at length.

Despite home DNA testing being a potentially expensive proposition with no guarantee of a truly genuine result, sales are booming. Most people have a fairly accurate picture of their genetic makeup before taking any one of these tests, it's just a fun parlor game, something to talk about over family dinner. But for others, there are welcome revelations about long-lost limbs of the family tree and sadly, for some, the prospect of facing disturbing secrets brought to light, questioning paternity and/or maternity and other long-held truths that never really were. It is a potential downfall that people must be prepared for.

More to come once my first round of results is received. . . .

Tree of Life image from Pinterest (no artist listed)

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