In my case, being an adopted child means more to me than if I had been biologically conceived by my loving parents who were unable to have children of their own. Being an adoptee never came as a bombshell revelation to me but rather was common knowledge throughout my childhood as my parents said things like, “We ordered you from the baby store.”
Since I do have such wonderful and loving parents, I’ve never really had the desire to seek out my biological mother or father, but instead have a natural curiosity about my background and medical history. When my doctor asks if a certain condition runs in my family, and I remind her that I don’t have that information, she always smiles and says, “That’s right, you were chosen.”
Opening A Closed Door
Also in my case, my adoption was “closed,” so there’s little to no chance of finding this information, even if I did want to locate my biological parents. Some people are reaching to the internet as a way to locate and reunite these disjointed families, which can be actually be a positive experience for youngsters online these days.
Enter DNA Testing
An inexpensive DNA test can unlock many mysteries about an adopted child from a simple swab of their saliva. You might be thinking about cases where DNA testing is used to prove or disprove the parental status of different people, so how could it help someone who has no idea who their biological parents are? Enter the internet once more for some interesting answers to these often puzzling questions.
Utilizing Free Resources
There’s many resources available for adoptees and their families when it comes to counseling and research, including Touched By Adoption. There’s also a plethora of online Yahoo groups to explore in your research:
Adoption DNA - Many in this group have migrated over to the newer DNA Adoption group as shown below as this group primarily discusses results and the politics of adoption.
Adoption DNA Tools - Focuses on tools being utilized to extract information from adoption databases.
DNA Adoption - A place for adoptees and anyone else utilizing DNA to discover unknown heritage or search for close biological family
Unknown Father DNA Group - Assistance with using specific types of DNA testing to find the identity of an unknown biological father along with interpretation services and support.
Unknown Fathers DNA - A group for advice and support for those searching for their unknown biological fathers.
When it comes to the overwhelmingly popular Facebook platform, check out the DNA Detectives page with almost 12,000 members. For more tools, resources and information about which type of DNA test would be best for you to order, visit DNAadoption.com.
Other Unique Circumstances
If you were the product of an egg or sperm donation, you may find some answers by joining the Donor Sibling Registry.
For males, you may be able to utilize DNA surname testing with Family Tree DNA to perform a Ysearch where you can upload your results to compare with people who have testing with other companies with Y-chromosome markers.
Even if you were the product of a closed adoption, you still may be able to open some doors on the internet when it comes to finding out more information about your background and unknown family members.
