Abby Connolly
Over the last few years, those at-home DNA tests have become much more accessible, and they’re popular gifts for holidays and birthdays.
However, there are some people who have reservations about taking those tests, as you never know what may come up.
One woman who grew up with adoptive parents is torn as to whether or not she should take an at-home DNA test, as the ancestry results could potentially alert her biological family to her existence, something her biological mother does not want.
She’s 32-years-old and was adopted when she was a baby. While her adoption was supposed to be ‘closed,’ meaning there’d be no contact with her biological parents, she did learn their names when she saw them on some adoption paperwork.
“I was able to track down my bio-mom about ten years ago [and] we exchanged a few emails and talked on the phone,” she said.
“She sent me photos of my bio-siblings who were not placed for adoption. I expressed interest in meeting my bio-siblings, and my bio-mom said she was sure they’d like to meet me, but she needed time to break the news of my existence to them because she felt some type of way about having kept it a secret for 20+ years.”
Unfortunately, as she waited for her biological mom to get back to her about meeting her siblings, she never got a response. Eventually, she stopped hearing from her biological mom entirely.
“My read is that she’s not interested in further contact with me, which is understandable and more than fine,” she explained.
“I was never able to find my bio-dad, although I did try for a while. I’ve recently been considering submitting my DNA to [an online test] on the chance that maybe I can find him or family members on his side, and also, I’d just like to know more about my ethnicity and heritage.”
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