Armed Polite Society
Main Forums => The Roundtable => Topic started by: Ben on July 15, 2019, 08:06:52 AM
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For Prime Day, Amazon has 23andme kits half off at $99, so I decided to get one. I guess it takes 6-8 weeks to get results, but I've always been curious. Partially because I'd like to see how accurate these are given that I can already trace my ancestors (at least on my dad's side) and their locations fairly precisely back around 500 years. My mom's side will be more interesting, as they are Germans who migrated to the (currently) Hungary region a couple hundred years ago. Also, I'm interested in the health information.
As far as ancestry, apparently ancestry.com is supposed to be better because of their larger database, but they don't do health related DNA. A quick gazoogle showed that there are several third party sites that let you directly import your 23andme (or whoever's) DNA data into their very large ancestry databases for a small fee, so I'll likely do that as well when the results come in.
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SWMBO has done one of the kits. From what I can see of her results, they are surprisingly accurate. Thought about getting one for myself. The only holdup is that I'm adopted. Not sure what the ramifications would be (suddenly getting a hanger-on bio parent or sib, someone suddenly finding out they have a bio brother they didn't know they had, etc.). Still mulling it over.
Brad
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https://www.wired.com/story/the-meteoric-rise-of-family-tree-forensics-to-fight-crimes/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suspected_perpetrators_of_crimes_identified_with_GEDmatch
Don't do it if you committed some horrible crime in the past and left genetic markers at the scene.
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Yeah... no thanks. As far as I can tell, the data that they pull from your profile has surprisingly few limitations on how they can use it or how it will be protected.
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https://www.wired.com/story/the-meteoric-rise-of-family-tree-forensics-to-fight-crimes/
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_suspected_perpetrators_of_crimes_identified_with_GEDmatch
Don't do it if you committed some horrible crime in the past and left genetic markers at the scene.
Or plan to commit a future crime...
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Not much downside to me doing it.
I have immediate family and cousins who have done it and that’s enough to get back to me.
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I've been thinking of doing this also. I started looking into it and found that Crigenetics (http://www.crigenetics.com) does the same thing. I've been looking at online comparisons.
Does anyone here have any insight about the accuracy between the different DNA tests?
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It’s why IDLife partnered with a medical DNA company for our DNA Health testing: HIPAA compliance.
Ancestry hasn’t ever really interested me. I can trace my ancestry to a hospital in California and that’s good enough for me 🤣
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"I can trace my ancestry to a hospital in California and that’s good enough for me"
That's what THEY want you to know...
Don't ask questions.
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Yeah... no thanks. As far as I can tell, the data that they pull from your profile has surprisingly few limitations on how they can use it or how it will be protected.
^^^ This. I have already seen multiple reports of police going after DNA data from Ancestry.com to track criminals. I'm very curious about what my DNA might show regarding my ancestry ... but I'm not curious enough to voluntarily put my DNA into anyone's data banks. Thanks, but no thanks.
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Plus... don’t forget the fact, that if they have your DNA, it’s already been proven that it can be amplified, added to cells, and plantedcas evidence.
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https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/07/03/mail-ancestry-dna-kits-may-help-enemy-target-you-navys-top-officer-says.html?ESRC=navy-a_190710.nl
Tailored bioweapons for a subset of the population. The article does bring up some interesting ideas but the cost vs return makes it so impractical at this time it seems to be more of science fiction than not. But give it time. ;)
bob
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"I can trace my ancestry to a hospital in California and that’s good enough for me"
That's what THEY want you to know...
Don't ask questions.
It’s why the Area 51 raid scares me so...
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https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/07/03/mail-ancestry-dna-kits-may-help-enemy-target-you-navys-top-officer-says.html?ESRC=navy-a_190710.nl
Tailored bioweapons for a subset of the population. The article does bring up some interesting ideas but the cost vs return makes it so impractical at this time it seems to be more of science fiction than not. But give it time. ;)
bob
It might be a lot more cost effective to have weapons tailored to individual's smart phone signals.
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Man bun seeking munitions.
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https://www.military.com/daily-news/2019/07/03/mail-ancestry-dna-kits-may-help-enemy-target-you-navys-top-officer-says.html?ESRC=navy-a_190710.nl
Tailored bioweapons for a subset of the population. The article does bring up some interesting ideas but the cost vs return makes it so impractical at this time it seems to be more of science fiction than not. But give it time. ;)
bob
No so far fetched. The South Africans were working upon this sort of thing once upon a time: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Project_Coast
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It's the Pax!
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It's the Pax!
So... anti-Paxxers?
Brad
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My younger sister did the 23&me thing. Got the answer(s) we expected (Irish and Northern European/Germany with a smattering of Scandanavian and British.)
She keeps hounding me to do it. To which I point out, that my results will be the same as hers and if not* then a *expletive deleted*it-storm will ensue. There is no upside.
* - There is 0.0000 reason to believe that my parents are not my parents...
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My sister had one of these done (so no point in me spending the money) and it pretty much confirmed what we already knew: Scandinavian and Wales/Scotland/Ireland. My mother's side is Scottish, my father's Norwegian. One interesting find was some 10% was from the "Iberian Peninsula", so I'm guessing some of my Viking ancestors vacationed in Spain. Who knows.
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Good grief, people, think. Twice. If Orwell knew people would willingly put microphones and cameras in their homes, and send off dna samples to the feds, (and yes, they are going to the feds), he would have written "You fools deserve what is coming", rather than "1984".
I would not be one bit surprised if the entire DNA "ancestry" BS was in fact a fed operation from the very start, part of the total information awareness program.
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I did the Ancestry.com test two years ago. My brother and I knew our origins on our mother's side, but our father was adopted. It turned out that a story we were told about his biological mother was a lie. In any case, it says I am mostly Polish and Czech, with a noteworthy sprinkle of Irish and Scandinavian blood.
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Tailored bioweapons for a subset of the population. The article does bring up some interesting ideas but the cost vs return makes it so impractical at this time it seems to be more of science fiction than not. But give it time. ;)
Landing on the moon and space stations were science fiction when I was a kid. So was Dick Tracy's two-way wrist TV -- now you can buy them at any Apple store.
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There have been some interesting stories on Faceplace about people who have done the DNA testing and come up with some... unexpected... results.
Things like "you're not your Dad's biological child because your Mom was a whore," or "A direct ancestor of your Scandinavian family was from a bit further south... as in Sub Saharan Africa..." That sort of thing...
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Good grief, people, think. Twice. If Orwell knew people would willingly put microphones and cameras in their homes, and send off dna samples to the feds, (and yes, they are going to the feds), he would have written "You fools deserve what is coming", rather than "1984".
I would not be one bit surprised if the entire DNA "ancestry" BS was in fact a fed operation from the very start, part of the total information awareness program.
Even the X-Files warned of this where they find secret underground bunkers filled with filing cabinets that contained everyone's DNA samples.
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My younger sister did the 23&me thing. Got the answer(s) we expected (Irish and Northern European/Germany with a smattering of Scandanavian and British.)
She keeps hounding me to do it. To which I point out, that my results will be the same as hers and if not* then a *expletive deleted*it-storm will ensue. There is no upside.
* - There is 0.0000 reason to believe that my parents are not my parents...
If I may point out, you clearly carry genes she does not. Might be interesting to find out where the Y chromosome came from.
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Regarding differences in DNA between siblings...
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/dna-ancestry-test-siblings-different-results-genetics-science/
Interesting article.
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Regarding differences in DNA between siblings...
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/dna-ancestry-test-siblings-different-results-genetics-science/
Interesting article.
I did a facebook live on differences between my daughter and I and our health&fitness DNA profiles
It was enlightening https://www.facebook.com/jason.dunaway.7/videos/vb.1133301415/10218241910735870/?type=3
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If you use Ancestry you can still download the raw DNA information and submit it to Promethease and get a health report for a few bucks. An uncle of mine used 23&Me and coerced my grandparents into doing the same because he suspected an unusual paternity event but it was absolute nonsense and revealed nothing unusual.
I have used Ancestry, along with my wife, grandmother, mother, and brother. The ethnicity estimates are always developing as the science improves and are mostly good for cocktail party conversation. The actual DNA information however is extremely useful for finding relatives or making contacts to build a family tree. I was provided a solid pedigree from both sides of my family but have built an amazing family tree and discovered previously unknown photographs of ancestors using new contacts and making acquaintance with distant relatives. It can be a powerful tool but for many people it's just a novelty to give them an ethnic background.
There are some interesting variations between family members having used identical tests and seeing how results change through generations. I would consider our results to be fairly accurate with our known history. The algorithms may be close, and if you have evidence of your own one way or another you can decide for yourself how accurate it is.
Ancestry says I am roughly 47% Scandinavian, 42% generic English, Welsh, and Northwestern European, and 11% Scottish/Irish. Paternally, I know from historical records that it's all Swedish and Scottish, and maternally it's English, Rheinland area northern Europe, Irish, and Prussian. My personal ethnicity estimate doesn't say German anywhere but it does for my mother, grandmother, and brother. I take after my father more than my brother does and it's interesting to see that reflected in the numbers.
The health information also confirmed what we knew about a certain history of cancer and disease in our family. It didn't tell us anything new but it definitely wasn't bunk either. As for privacy.... Eh. Cat's already out of the bag.
Sent from my Moto G (5) Plus using Tapatalk
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If I may point out, you clearly carry genes she does not. Might be interesting to find out where the Y chromosome came from.
Dad's parents were from Ireland, Mom's for Northern Germany. Other then some weird .4 (or was .04% Finnish) and .04% (.4%) Iberian Peninsula her's was 49% Irish, 49% Northern European (With the map that came with showing Northern Germany). It was spot on to what we know. my Brother did the Ancestry.com thing for my Dad's side, and when I was in Germany I went to small northern German town my mom's family is from and saw the records with the family name going back 200 or so years. And since it is a very, very, very unique German name, I knew I had the right ones.
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There have been some interesting stories on Faceplace about people who have done the DNA testing and come up with some... unexpected... results.
Things like "you're not your Dad's biological child because your Mom was a whore," or "A direct ancestor of your Scandinavian family was from a bit further south... as in Sub Saharan Africa..." That sort of thing...
Saw a story where identical twins got wildly different results.
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Dad's parents were from Ireland, Mom's for Northern Germany. Other then some weird .4 (or was .04% Finnish) and .04% (.4%) Iberian Peninsula her's was 49% Irish, 49% Northern European (With the map that came with showing Northern Germany). It was spot on to what we know. my Brother did the Ancestry.com thing for my Dad's side, and when I was in Germany I went to small northern German town my mom's family is from and saw the records with the family name going back 200 or so years. And since it is a very, very, very unique German name, I knew I had the right ones.
Northern Germany?!? That's it. We can't be friends anymore, you Prussian dog!
=D =D =D
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Northern Germany?!? That's it. We can't be friends anymore, you Prussian dog!
=D =D =D
Ahhh,no. Near Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. First Duchy of Odenburg, later Kingdom of Westphalia and then Kingdom of Hanover. Wasn't until the mid 1800's that the Prussians overran it.
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Ahhh,no. Near Osnabrück, Lower Saxony. First Duchy of Odenburg, later Kingdom of Westphalia and then Kingdom of Hanover. Wasn't until the mid 1800's that the Prussians overran it.
Okay, we can be friends again. :laugh:
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Yep, no Prussian Jackboots in my closet.
=D =D =D =D =D =D =D
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Revisiting because I jumped on the 23 & Me bandwagon earlier this year. Ancestry DNA, too. My adoption records are bereft of biological parents' adult medical info and familial medical issues so I figured it was worth a shot for that info alone.
Really cool to see the ancestry and genealogy stuff. Confirmed what I presumed due to my green eyes, stocky build, and pale skin... heaping helpings of Scottish and Irish, a dollop of German, and a sprinkling of English and French. Best news was an almost complete lack of genetic markers for really bad medical stuff.
On the adoption side, well... DNA matches got solid hits on an aunt and two first cousins. What's really scary, like seriously scary, is how easy it was to track them down. With only three pieces of info, an hour on Google, and cross-referencing genealogy sites with news postings, obituaries, and social media, I had an entire family tree of all my paternal aunts/uncles (including spouses and home addresses for all, phone numbers for most), paternal grandparents, several cousins, and a half brother. I was able to narrow down my bio father with an extremely high probability, including a current job description, professional bio, and LinkedIn profile. Impressive one, too. MBA from a place that for sure makes you earn it. Founding president and CEO of a large national bank. Board of Directors for another large regional bank. Still alive and lives in Nevada.
Nothing on the maternal side, at least nothing which made me go "Hey, that would be easy to track down". No desire to start digging through DNA hits to try and build a tree.
I stopped there because it had quickly progressed wayyy beyond my scope of curiosity and was getting creepy. One cousin tried to initiate contact but I didn't respond.
Brad
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I did Ancestry because it was a gift, did it with my daughter. Figured what the heck, military already has my DNA, huge reason to not do crime.
Mostly as expected, Scotch, Irish, English. Maternal grandfather was 1st gen scottish and paternal grandmother from a been in Virginia 200 years scottish family.
Surprises, returned 0% French DNA and 17% German. There were some germans married into the paternal grandmothers line way back but what I think happened is internal european migrations. We have 100% certain family history that my maternal grandmothers family emigrated in the 1700s as French Hugenots when things weren't so good for them. No trace of that. Also not what line that afflicted me with my name.
Came back about 10% Scandinavian with no family history so that figures to be the Irish/English part of my dad's family that came to Virginia in the 1600s. Surname goes back in England/Ireland as possibly derived from the men from the north.
Also surprised at 0% African. In Virginia that long, things happened. My grandfather looked completely like an elderly black man of light complexion when he got old. Still think something was running around.
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I'm reasonably certain I'm part Irish and part Viking, I will destroy your village and get drunk then write a very sad song about your poor village that got destroyed
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American since the mid 1600s on my dad's side, Scottish before that. Supposedly a LITTLE American Indian (Choctaw and Cherokee), and I wouldn't be that surprised what else got thrown in. My mom's side includes "Hoffman"s and "Wooten"s, so German and Idunno. So, American mutt?
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Regarding differences in DNA between siblings...
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2018/03/dna-ancestry-test-siblings-different-results-genetics-science/
Interesting article.
My sister and i have both done 23andme. Very different backgrounds despite having the same parents. I’m 37% Scandinavian, she got none of the Viking blood. I also got .1% Native American and .1% Spanish that she didn’t have. I also had 3 or 4% Neanderthal and she barely registered.
My father, who was adopted out of the nursery, took Ancestry in January 2020. Immediately found a niece. Turned out she had also been given up for adoption; but had just in the previous week found her bio mother, who was my father’s full sister.
Turns out that on top of her, my father has two other full sisters though one passed a few years ago. His parents were high school sweethearts when he came along, gave him up; but got married right out of school. He missed meeting his dad by 10 years, and his mom by 4. Neither of his sisters had any idea their parents had given up a baby, and were both really happy to have a brother.
It also turns out that his parents were best friends with my mother’s best friend Wendy’s parents. My parents were dating when Wendy got married, so my dad was at a wedding with his bio parents and had no idea.
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Considering how the "authorities" have taken to accessing the DNA databases to solve cold cases, I'm not sure I want that information out there. My mother did enough genealogical research years ago that we know our ancestry includes Scottish, Irish, French, Dutch, German, and English.
That's enough to satisfy me. And yes, I'm a "mutt". :rofl:
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Considering how the "authorities" have taken to accessing the DNA databases to solve cold cases, I'm not sure I want that information out there.
I agree completely. I'm curious, but not THAT curious.
https://nypost.com/2022/10/01/how-police-can-use-your-dna-to-solve-crimes-without-consent/
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The reality is that you don’t have to ever use the service. Your sister or nephew or cousin can do it and they can get close enough to pin you down.
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The reality is that you don’t have to ever use the service. Your sister or nephew or cousin can do it and they can get close enough to pin you down.
Is that close enough for the "authorities" to pin you down, too?
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Is that close enough for the "authorities" to pin you down, too?
Yes, that is what I am saying.
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Yes, that is what I am saying.
The Snohomish County Sheriff was an early adopter of using DNA and forensic genealogy to solve cold cases. By building family trees from DNA samples, they can identify people through distant relatives. They have used this to identify suspects and identify skeletal remains found in the local forests.
https://www.forensicmag.com/587803-Retiring-Cold-Case-Detective-Solves-15th-Case-with-IGG-in-4-Years/
https://www.heraldnet.com/news/cases-that-have-been-solved-thanks-to-forensic-genealogy/
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Yes, that is what I am saying.
Ah ha. Thanks.
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One cousin tried to initiate contact but I didn't respond.
Brad
Revisit because I finally responded, being careful to acknowledge that my interest was related to medical history and not "instant family". To my surprise, they replied warmly and were very supportive of discretion and respect. We didn't strike up a conversation and all that, but it was a nice note and offer of information if I wanted.
What I didn't know is that she began contacting others in her family. I'm not surprised, as that kind of information generates questions. The result was contact from her sister via an Ancestry account. I now have an open and quite cordial invitation to contact her and my half-brother at any time. I likely will as I still want adult medical info, but may delve more deeply as comfort and discretion allows.
Brad
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"but may delve more deeply as comfort and discretion allows."
You want a balrog?
Because that's how you get a *expletive deleted*ing balrog.
:rofl:
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You want a balrog?
Because that's how you get a *expletive deleted*ing balrog.
:rofl:
Which version... Lord of the Rings or Epic Rage Quit? =D
Brad
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Which version... Lord of the Rings or Epic Rage Quit? =D
Brad
:rofl: :rofl: :rofl:
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Which version... Lord of the Rings or Epic Rage Quit? =D
Brad
I'm not sure that I get the epic rage quit reference...
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Another revisit because I just had the entire thing blow wide open.
I've picked at my maternal side a bit, but nothing serious. There really wasn't much there past a couple of third and fourth cousins on Ancestry and 23&Me. What little backtracking I did always ended up at a great-great-grandparent and a few related tidbits all centered on Kansas City, MO. Nothing downstream of that, a giant information black hole. I pretty much blew it off as unattainable without a lot of time, effort, and/or money, none of which I've the desire to apply.
I've emailed a couple times with my bio brother. Mostly the adult medical histories I was initially searching for. Never asked for any more, and made sure it was perfectly clear I had no expectations beyond that. Just a few minutes ago, he emailed with my bio father's contact info, said contact was welcome, and that bio father knows where my bio mother is. Wow. Never in a million years would I have expected that info to literally fall into my lap.
Brad
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Wow! Hope it all works out for you.
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Brad.
I'm trying to imagine the emotions that today's email would open up in a guy and coming up blank. After some.processing time I'd love to know where your head ends up.
Good luck!
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Brad.
I'm trying to imagine the emotions that today's email would open up in a guy and coming up blank. After some.processing time I'd love to know where your head ends up.
Good luck!
Actually, I'm already there. I made up my mind early on that whatever happened it would be a slow, cautious process, and that it wasn't going to change anything other than being a source of information. I was blindsided by the unexpected influx of information, sure, but only in the sense of suddenly having way more information than I ever expected, both quantity and quality. Otherwise it hasn't changed my state of mind about, well, anything.
I know who my parents are, they raised me. I have a great family and a great life that I wouldn't change for anything. This is just new information which fills in biological lineage gaps. It's cool to know, and will certainly be fun and interesting to investigate further, but is not otherwise life-changing in any respect.
It helps that I've always known I was adopted. My parents made no effort to hide it, instead choosing to treat it as a special, positive aspect in every way. As a result, I don't have some overwhelming sense of loss, urgency, or desire relative to my biological lineage. I've also taken the whole contact thing very slow, being absolutely clear that I don't want this to be a source of strife or friction for their families, and that I have no expectations or plans beyond adult medical histories. I'll let it play out organically.
Brad
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A friend was adopted along with his (non-biological) brother. All he knows of his birth mother is that she was 14 when he was born, tried to keep him but the German government forced her to give him up for adoption. I can only imagine the emotions that can accompany finding your biological family. Whether from a loving and accepting adoptive family or not.
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Bridge crossed.
Nice emails back and forth from birth father. We both acknowledged the awkwardness and are in agreement the best course is to simply treat the situation as "new acquaintances" and go from there. I was very open that I treat my adoption as a blessing and harbor no resentment or ill will. That seemed to put him at ease. We exchanged a few general bits of life and background info, but nothing of great or extended detail. All in all a pleasant experience thus far.
He gave me a bit of background on my birth situation, much of which confirmed what I suspected... two college lovebirds who fumbled their way into a pregnancy. They were going to marry, but her parents promptly shipped her off to a home for unwed mothers. Relationship ended after that.
He mentioned he has always been curious how I was doing, so this seemed a nice bookend for him, too. He also mentioned he took the time a few years ago to research my birth mother's whereabouts. No contact, but he did find her location and a few generalities about her life. That was the info previously mentioned. Since there's been no contact between them, I asked him not to tell me anything about her out of respect for her privacy. I did, however, tell him that if she ever made contact to ask about me, he was free to disclose my info.
Brad
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Maternal lineage nailed down. An unexpected contact from a very distant cousin provided the key. He was just fleshing out data on third and fourth cousins, but his notes turned up a name I hadn't previously run across. The person's surname was familiar. I was able to cross-reference with more familiar names, backtracking into an obituary which connected all the dots. I'd developed several lineages from Ancestry and 23&Me hits but couldn't make them join. This tied them all together. Within minutes I had a promising identity. It was confirmed today.
As with my paternal family, I've no desire to initiate contact. No need to rock the boat unless they take the first step. Even if they do, I'll probably stay arms-length as her and her immediate family's social media is rife with ultra-lib sentiment and support. Not my thing.
An interesting aside, she and her husband live in small Colorado town just off a road SWMBO and I have traveled many times. I've been within five miles of her home on at least a dozen occasions.
Brad
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They got hacked
23andMe confirms hackers accessed data of 6.9 million users
https://www.foxbusiness.com/fox-news-tech/23andme-confirms-hackers-accessed-data-6-9-million-users
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And... someone leaked the information of hundreds of thousands of users that have Jewish DNA:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/23andme-user-data-targeting-ashkenazi-jews-leaked-online-rcna119324
Perhaps you should re-think the 23andme thing.
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Good grief, people, think. Twice. If Orwell knew people would willingly put microphones and cameras in their homes, and send off dna samples to the feds, (and yes, they are going to the feds), he would have written "You fools deserve what is coming", rather than "1984".
I would not be one bit surprised if the entire DNA "ancestry" BS was in fact a fed operation from the very start, part of the total information awareness program.
My two "boys" (they'e now both near 50) kept bugging me to do it --they had already done so, but what tokugawa noted was running through my head before even then. They finally bought me a kit, so I felt obligated. Came back with exactly what I had been told by my parents: (Deleted European) background; and that my two sons were my issue.
The thing is, 23AndME kept importuning me to go further with more informational tidbits, each of which cost additional fees. I mean, hardly a week went by that I didn't get two more e-mail "offers" from them. No big deal, but it got kind of annoying so I relegated their e-mails to the trash bin.
So maybe I have two more cousins somewhere, so what? Unless I can borrow money from one of them, who cares?
Besides, at 85 yo, establishing new filial relationships would be kinda pointless, no?
Terry, 230RN
EDITED TO ADD: I deleted details of my background since paranoia prevails in terms of data mining by whomever. Thanks for expressing that openly, tokugawa!
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This is my shocked face.
Yep, completely shocked that someone managed to hack their system.
I've not done, and will not do, one of these programs. The Chinese, Norks, Russians, etc., have more than enough of my information already, thank you very much.
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And... someone leaked the information of hundreds of thousands of users that have Jewish DNA:
https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/23andme-user-data-targeting-ashkenazi-jews-leaked-online-rcna119324
Perhaps you should re-think the 23andme thing.
That story is from the morning of Oct 7th, same as the Hamas attacks, which means it was posted as the attacks were occurring. Interesting timing.
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Wouldn't it be funny if some (or many) of those Hamas people showed that damned near universal Jewish DNA? Maybe they should start requiring 23andMe testing to "out" their own impure members.
Tee-hee-giggle-giggle.
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I don't know if it is true, but I read some years back that the Jews were most closely related to the Kurds.
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Actually, I'm already there. I made up my mind early on that whatever happened it would be a slow, cautious process, and that it wasn't going to change anything other than being a source of information. I was blindsided by the unexpected influx of information, sure, but only in the sense of suddenly having way more information than I ever expected, both quantity and quality. Otherwise it hasn't changed my state of mind about, well, anything.
I know who my parents are, they raised me. I have a great family and a great life that I wouldn't change for anything. This is just new information which fills in biological lineage gaps. It's cool to know, and will certainly be fun and interesting to investigate further, but is not otherwise life-changing in any respect.
It helps that I've always known I was adopted. My parents made no effort to hide it, instead choosing to treat it as a special, positive aspect in every way. As a result, I don't have some overwhelming sense of loss, urgency, or desire relative to my biological lineage. I've also taken the whole contact thing very slow, being absolutely clear that I don't want this to be a source of strife or friction for their families, and that I have no expectations or plans beyond adult medical histories. I'll let it play out organically.
Brad
You sound like you've got your head on pretty straight. Your parents done good.
Just a new adventure path if you choose to follow it.
Congratulations !
Terry, 230RN