I often get requests for guest post placement here from companies looking to increase their SEO reach. As a SEO professional myself, I understand these requests and often entertain them, but always with the ideals that the guest post MUST fit into the overall message of this blog and what you, my readers, expect. Usually, it does not work out. This time however, I can say that the exchange yielded not only the following informative article, but an upcoming post on THEIR site regarding Adoptee Rights!
Yup, bartering for Adoptee Rights again!
There are many heart wrenching cases of children wanting to be reunited with their biological parents or relatives wanting to know whether they are truly related to a person they suspect to be their blood relatives. These people simply want and need answers to be able to find that inner peace. The not knowing who you are or where you came from can be a very distressing, life long experience.
Once case which comes to mind from the many encountered, is one man in Italy who was adopted as child. His adoptive mother called the DNA testing laboratory to see whether they could help her son discover something about where he came from or who he was, anything about his past prior to his adoption. This poor, young man had no idea where his biological parents might have come from or where he was actually born. There was nothing that could help him, no leads or clues, no relatives or anything that could give him the slightest insight. We could only offer the man an ancestral origins test – a generalized ancestry test that links one back to their ancient geogenetic roots, taking one back thousands of years. Despite the somewhat irrelevance of the test in such a context, the man was delighted to be able make some connections and speculations about where his more recent ancestors might have come from based upon the results of this ancient ancestral origins test. Of course, his guesses about his recent ancestors based upon the results of his ancient ancestry could well have been altogether wrong. However, they did help relieve him of some of his despair and anxiety.
Adoptive Children and Their Biological Parents
DNA testing has come to the aid of those children wishing to be reunited with their biological parents.
There are of course adoption registries or databases where adoptees or parents who gave up their kids for adoption, can provide their DNA profile for storing and processing. What these databases do is look for matches between DNA profiles of people in the database. These registries really help to facilitate contact or reunions. Significantly however, adoption registries cannot provide access to any birth certificates, death certificates or such documents.
DNA Testing with Alleged Parents
Maternity testing and paternity are both highly accurate DNA tests that can be used to unite adoptees with their biological parents. These cases are, must be said rare. Usually adoptive children begin actually searching for their parents in their adult life. This is often when they most begin feeling the need to find answers and also have the means and mindset to begin investigating. However, by this time, their biological parents might be old or have passed away.
DNA testing with Alleged Siblings
In cases where adoptees might be able to locate their alleged siblings, they could opt to do a relationship sibling test. All depends however, on whether the siblings are male or female (and needless to mention the fact that the siblings must consent to the test). If all test participants are male and they want to confirm whether they have the same father, they can test their Y chromosome. Male siblings with the same dad will have the exact same Y chromosome profile.
If they are all females in the test then an X chromosome test is ideal. If the adoptee and the alleged siblings have the same mother, they will have to include her sample. If their mother is different, then they can carry out the test without the mother’s sample.
Finding your Birth Mother
Besides maternity testing, adopted children who wish to know if a given person is their biological could do a mitochondrial DNA test. All biological relatives, both male and female, from the same maternal line will have the same MtDNA. The only problem with the test is exactly this- two people with the same MtDNA profile could be sisters, aunt and niece or nephew, grandmother and grandchild and so forth. With this test, the people tested must draw their own conclusions as to the relationship between them should the test confirm them to be biological relatives.
The Harsh Reality
There have been cases of children wishing to know if a deceased man or women was their biological mother. They might seek to carry out a DNA test directly with the deceased or perhaps attempt to elicit the pity of close blood relatives. Often, the reality with these cases is quite sad and shows the selfish streak many human beings have. From experience, when adopted children turn up claiming to be related to other people and ask for a DNA test, they get turned away. This is often because the relatives might stand to lose out financially to a new relative who is entirely a stranger to the family. In some countries such as Italy, exhumation of a body is extremely difficult and the courts will only give the go ahead if close living relatives of the deceased give their consent. Again, if a person comes forward claiming to be the child of the deceased and requests the family to consent to a DNA test, they will often refuse. They worry that the person making the request might really be the biological child of the deceases and thus, make a claim to any inheritance.
Many times, children seeking out their original parents are going through an agonizing emotional turmoil, plagued by the need to get answers. They do not even consider the possibility of financial gains, just trying to appease their pain and move on with their lives.
Author Bio
Helen Burns is a qualified nurse working in the prenatal care unit of a private hospital. She has currently put her nursing career on hold to look after her two young kids. In her part time, she works as a writer specializing on topics relating to child birth and pregnancy. Helen regularly contributes articles to a number of info sites and blogs. More articles by Helen can be found by visiting: www.homednadirect.com
