Connecting the Dots with DNA

Article originally appeared in Fostering Families Today. Click here to subscribe.

My results from 23&Me and FamilyTree DNA were similar. As a transracially adopted person, adopted in the closed adoption era, no longer having to speculate on exactly why my skin is brown and my hair is curly has been a profound discovery. While I have always known and embraced my identity as a woman of color, not having access to anyone in my family of origin made it difficult to know more about them and where in the world we came from. While DNA testing has been around for a while, advances in science and technology made it more accessible to the average person.  

Access to our ancestry, ethnicity and genealogy is having a transformational effect on society with many just now getting curious about something that many experiencing foster care and adoption have long wanted to know: what exactly is in their DNA.

For those of us who have been separated from our families, and may have limited firsthand information about our genes and ancestry, the advances of DNA discovery and access to them stand to impact us as individuals as well as the bigger world of adoption and foster care.

“The popularity of and interest in DNA testing and ancestry exploration felt like permission and validation to search and explore answers that up until then adoption and foster care could not give me. I think everyone would benefit from exploring their identity through DNA, and I hope that more people have the opportunity to do so – especially young people in foster care and individuals and families experiencing adoption.”

For me, having concrete information about my ethnicity was a giant step in being more deeply rooted in my identity, particularly as a woman of color. Over time, I reunited with my family of origin on my mother’s side, so I had some information about them but getting the detail via my DNA profile was meaningful. When folks on my mother’s side of the family showed up as my relatives on Ancestry.com, it was so moving and made my connections to them even more real.  

On my father’s side, things are more complex as I was not able to get any information about him before my mother of origin (my phrasing for birth, bio mother) died. Over the years, I tried to piece together bits of information to identify him with no luck. Based on what I knew of DNA testing, submitting my DNA would give me detailed information about my ethnicity and it might also provide clues and access to my father and our extended family.  

While each individual experience with DNA testing is unique, I am seeing more and more members of the adoption and foster care community learn about their ancestry and locate family. Regardless of how we feel about these sites and DNA testing more generally, the democratization of it signals bigger, necessary changes and opportunities to come. 

The need for transparency and openness will continue to grow. While we have long known that less secrecy and more transparency in adoption and foster care is better for everyone within the extended family, being able to have access to information about ethnicity and genetics means that we can offer facts and details to adopted persons and those experiencing foster care. It also means that making connections to family becomes more and more possible so the idea of truly closed adoptions and complete disconnection from family is indeed a thing of the past.  

Digital advances make our “analog” work more complex but also offer opportunities. As technology continues to advance, making connections to extended family commonplace, the work of foster care and adoption must continue to elevate. Given DNA sites as well as social media and more sophisticated ways in which we can find people, we know that it is likely not a matter of “if” but “when” families will reconnect. 

Again, this speaks to the need for transparency and openness, but it also means that these tools can be used proactively as we look for family resources for children and young people that will not be able to remain in the care of their parents. What if part of family finding included leveraging DNA to locate possible family that would be a resource? What if every youth in foster care received a DNA kit and with that, the necessary support from professionals to understand what their DNA reveals about them as well as the guidance should they wish to connect to relatives that share their DNA?

Protecting children and young people must always remain at the center.  Engaging in DNA discovery and possible family connections are big opportunities, and they require parents, guardians and professionals to be educated about what these companies can do and what it means to utilize them. With all of the possibilities, there is also a need to proceed with caution and with as much education as possible.

23andMe and AncestryDNA, the two biggest providers of consumer DNA kits, say their customers have to be 18 years or older to order a test, but a parent or legal guardian of a child younger than 18 may purchase one and open up an account for a child. Before  doing DNA testing, it’s important to understand how the sites work,  the privacy settings  and how to prepare emotionally for what may be revealed.

Understanding more of who I am through DNA and ancestry has been such a huge gift. Deciding to do so came with a lot of thought, and I took my time to research and investigate each platform to be sure I understood the implications and opportunities. For me, exploring my identity and having information about my genetics and ethnicity was empowering and helped to quiet some of the emotions surrounding not having access to information about myself and the people I am genetically connected to.  

The popularity of and interest in DNA testing and ancestry exploration felt like validation to search and explore answers that up until then, adoption and foster care could not or would not give me. I think everyone would benefit from exploring their identity through DNA, and I hope that more people have the opportunity to do so — especially young people in foster care and individuals and families experiencing adoption.

It is powerful. There are so many elements that share our identities and we all need information in order to truly understand ourselves.  I hope we will utilize these groundbreaking tools in ways that continue to encourage a more open and transparent process that allows our full identities to be explored and makes space for continued connections to extended family.