Downside of Ancestry autosomal DNA test

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_Jersey Girl
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Downside of Ancestry autosomal DNA test

Post by _Jersey Girl »

I've mentioned this before with regard to adoptions, particularly closed adoptions where a bio mother expected privacy.

Welp. Thanks to Ancestry and it's autosomal (spits out male and female relatives for up to 5 generations as I recall) DNA test, this is becoming a huge issue. Just found this post on some random message board where I happened to be reading about something else entirely. Posted by an anonymous poster.

My sister had a closed adoption and the birth mother was adamant she didn't want to be contacted. My sister took the Ancestry DNA test and found close relatives like cousins and siblings. She's been messaging them and they are upset, have no knowledge of the birth and don't want her to contact them. An older woman told my sister she had no right to do this. She has no way to message the birth mother directly.

Any advice? I think since it was a closed adoption she should only message the birth mother and not the rest of the family. My parents think this woman has no right to privacy in 2018 and her entire family should know about her teenage birth and don't care about any consequences if her children or husband or parents find out. I see both sides. I feel for this woman who was a young teen when she had the baby and chose adoption over abortion under the condition that it was a closed adoption. And then I feel for my sister who wants a new family.


Sheesh. Can you even imagine?

:surprised:
Last edited by Google Feedfetcher on Wed May 16, 2018 3:33 am, edited 1 time in total.
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_Themis
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Re: Downside of Ancestry autosomal DNA test

Post by _Themis »

No more secrets.
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_Jersey Girl
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Re: Downside of Ancestry autosomal DNA test

Post by _Jersey Girl »

Themis wrote:No more secrets.


You got it. This issue was mentioned during a 6 week genealogy class that I took online facilitiated by a UK university. I hadn't even thought of it prior.

I just hope that, since the toothpaste is clearly out of the tube on this issue, that women who would opt for adoption don't choose to terminate on account of it. Imagine the impact to their lives regardless of what they choose?

Why even bother to opt for closed adoption now when there is no safeguard of one's privacy.

And there is no possible way that Ancestry is going to withdraw the DNA tests. Even if they did, there are plenty of other sources that offer autosomal DNA testing.

What a mess for some folks!
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_Jersey Girl
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Re: Downside of Ancestry autosomal DNA test

Post by _Jersey Girl »

My test kit is still sitting here collecting dust. No, Q, I didn't send it in yet. ;-) The one and only reason I want to do the test is to see if anything comes from my mother's bio dad whose identity is basically unknown, except for a family story claim.

When I do it, and if hopefully his ancestry appears in the results, it wouldn't even cross my mind to contact any of his family members. All I'm after is confirmation on is ethnicity.

I can't blame adoptees for using the DNA test to satisfy a quest for their birth mother or bio fathers. It's such a complex situation, though. A Pandora's box of DNA has been opened.

And what about children who were conceived via sperm donor who might not know it yet?

OMG. I feel for these people...both children and bio parents.
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_Lemmie
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Re: Downside of Ancestry autosomal DNA test

Post by _Lemmie »

Jersey Girl wrote:My test kit is still sitting here collecting dust. No, Q, I didn't send it in yet. ;-) The one and only reason I want to do the test is to see if anything comes from my mother's bio dad whose identity is basically unknown, except for a family story claim.

When I do it, and if hopefully his ancestry appears in the results, it wouldn't even cross my mind to contact any of his family members. All I'm after is confirmation on is ethnicity.

I can't blame adoptees for using the DNA test to satisfy a quest for their birth mother or bio fathers. It's such a complex situation, though. A Pandora's box of DNA has been opened.

And what about children who were conceived via sperm donor who might not know it yet?

OMG. I feel for these people...both children and bio parents.

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_MeDotOrg
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Re: Downside of Ancestry autosomal DNA test

Post by _MeDotOrg »

Jersey Girl wrote:I've mentioned this before with regard to adoptions, particularly closed adoptions where a bio mother expected privacy.

Welp. Thanks to Ancestry and it's autosomal (spits out male and female relatives for up to 5 generations as I recall) DNA test, this is becoming a huge issue. Just found this post on some random message board where I happened to be reading about something else entirely. Posted by an anonymous poster.

My sister had a closed adoption and the birth mother was adamant she didn't want to be contacted. My sister took the Ancestry DNA test and found close relatives like cousins and siblings. She's been messaging them and they are upset, have no knowledge of the birth and don't want her to contact them. An older woman told my sister she had no right to do this. She has no way to message the birth mother directly.

Any advice? I think since it was a closed adoption she should only message the birth mother and not the rest of the family. My parents think this woman has no right to privacy in 2018 and her entire family should know about her teenage birth and don't care about any consequences if her children or husband or parents find out. I see both sides. I feel for this woman who was a young teen when she had the baby and chose adoption over abortion under the condition that it was a closed adoption. And then I feel for my sister who wants a new family.


Sheesh. Can you even imagine?

:surprised:

The break in the Golden State Killer Case came from relatives at an Ancestry DNA site.

As far as your parents thinking the woman has no right to privacy, just give me their address and I'll send them a piece of my mind (or a swab of my cheek). Are your parents saying that they felt the woman who signed the contract had no legitimate expectation that the contract would be honored? But the same privacy would have been honored had the woman lived before DNA testing. So should this woman should have been aware that DNA testing might happen in the future when she signed the adaption papers? It's a fascinating and troubling unintended consequence of technology.

I hadn't given this much thought before now. You start to see all of the ramifications of publicly available DNA. I wonder if privacy legislation with respect to DNA can be drafted or legislated in any way.
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_Always Changing
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Re: Downside of Ancestry autosomal DNA test

Post by _Always Changing »

I gave up a baby for adoption. Shortly after, I was told that he had died. I grieved for years, between bouts of denial. It was shortly after Roe vs. Wade, and I was told about all the couples who were desperate for a baby, just not enough "on the market". I have no compassion for those who want to forget that they had a baby-- such an event in a woman's life cannot be forgotten. If the baby is a result of rape, the woman needs therapy to understand that the baby is not the father, and should not be punished for the father's sins. A woman who is terrified that others might find out that she had had a baby outside of marriage is more likely to have been the kind to have had an abortion, post Roe vs. Wade.

In my most biased humble opinion.

I would rather discover family secrets than cover them up. Such secrets warp families. In a Christian context, we are all imperfect, we all sin. Why should we pretend otherwise?

Yes, I did my test. No secrets were uncovered, except stray, unaccounted-for DNA matches. So what?
Last edited by Guest on Wed May 16, 2018 2:26 pm, edited 1 time in total.
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_SteelHead
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Re: Downside of Ancestry autosomal DNA test

Post by _SteelHead »

I had a guy contact me after I did my ancestry test. Shows up as my first cousin. Was adopted. No one in my family seems to know about it......
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_Themis
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Re: Downside of Ancestry autosomal DNA test

Post by _Themis »

MeDotOrg wrote:The break in the Golden State Killer Case came from relatives at an Ancestry DNA site.

I hadn't given this much thought before now. You start to see all of the ramifications of publicly available DNA. I wonder if privacy legislation with respect to DNA can be drafted or legislated in any way.


I think there are some privacy issues that need to be worked out, but here is another solved cold case. How many today will be caught without police even needing their specific DNA?
http://www.cbc.ca/news/canada/british-columbia/seattle-man-arrested-in-connection-with-1987-slayings-of-b-c-high-school-sweethearts-1.4669139
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