Author: libertypath

Support for DNA testing – From a stubborn skeptic

Guest Post by Scott M.

It may sound weird but I used to be adamantly against DNA testing. I didn’t want a microscopic blueprint of me to be stored in a massive liquid-cooled library. The idea of frozen copies of my genetic makeup being passed around in a college laboratory while socially challenged geniuses in lab coats document my every defect is highly offensive and invasive to me.

As you can guess, my knowledge of gene sequencing and genetic scientists in general was somewhat lacking. That has changed now but it took some help from an unlikely source. My co-worker Krista. I’ve changed the names in this story to protect myself from violating some obscure HIPAA regulation but here is what happened.

Krista is happily married to Brad and they have one incredibly smart and athletic son who will probably cure cancer while simultaneously breaking Olympic records in every available category. I don’t feel threatened by him per se, but he seems to excel at everything he tries. Karate, soccer, lacrosse, down hill skiing, you name it, he probably is better at it right now than you or I ever could be. Their son’s name is Tanner, and he is only 10 years old.

Where does that kind of raw talent come from? It turns out that I wasn’t the only one who wondered how he won the genetic lottery. His parents saw an ad from Ancestry.com and felt that DNA testing would help answer the mystery about what racial mixture Tanner was made of that resulted in his inherent abilities. Krista and Brad also opted to submit DNA samples for testing to see which parent was responsible for the good genes.

Krista was familiar with her family history going back two or three generations but all Brad knew is that he had been adopted. His mother was a high school student and she gave him up at birth. Brad’s adoptive parents didn’t talk much about it and were no help when it came to assisting him in finding his birth parents. To complicate the situation, Brad’s birth certificate was printed with his adoptive parents listed as his birth parents. There was no adoption agency and no records that could help him reconnect with his real mom and dad.

Brad had tried using social media and some dubious adoption research websites but his efforts there were only met with email from strangers that claimed they were his parents and had been searching for him for years, but in reality, they were no relation of his and were only hoping to scam him out of his money. The roller coaster of emotions which Brad went through as each time his hopes skyrocketed and then were crushed was devastating.  When Brad’s adopted father and mother passed away he gave up on ever finding his family. The only link he knew was gone.

Imagine his surprise and shock when he opened his DNA test results and saw that his DNA was a close match to that of another person in their database! Krista shared the results with me and couldn’t wait for the person who matched his DNA to reply to their contact request. As the days stretched on with no response, they asked me to help them get in touch. I had a first name and and last initial as well as a city and state to go on. Using my one and only super power, I started googling high school yearbooks, news articles, and social media until I found a close match. I then searched obituaries and telephone directories until I had a name and phone number.

I wasn’t there when he made the call but I cried when I heard about it. The phone number rang through to his birth father’s widow Dorothy. Brad’s birth father Clarence had only found out about Brad after the adoption was complete. He had no way to find Brad and had lost contact with the birth mother. Clarence had told Dorothy that he had a child with his high school girlfriend and that she had put their child up for adoption without his consent. Clarence had passed away a few years prior to Brad’s call. He had always regretted not being able to see his first child.

A trip was quickly scheduled and Krista, Brad, and Tanner drove up to Washington State to meet his new mom as well as his several half-siblings. It didn’t take a DNA test to prove who he was. Brad could pass for the identical twin of his brother and has the same voice and mannerisms as his dad.

With the support of his new family and the recollections of his bonus mom, Brad provided me with enough details that I was able to find the name and phone number of his birth mother online. Another trip was taken and more tears were shed. Within a few short weeks, a man who was convinced he would never know his real parents found himself surrounded by family. His family.

Tanner has two new grandmas and his family tree now has branches on both sides. It turns out the DNA tests weren’t very helpful in determining which parent passed on the athletic genes. Brad thinks the athleticism must have come from him and Krista is convinced she passed on the intelligence traits. While that debate may never be settled, they both agree that the DNA tests gave them more than they had ever hoped for.

I have to admit that DNA testing changed the lives of my co-worker’s family. I guess adding a few strands of DNA to the world’s largest genetic library isn’t such a bad thing after all.