15.9 Unexpected Results
Every person who embarks on DNA testing needs to be aware that unexpected results are common and have the potential to disrupt firmly held familial beliefs. Bettinger states “Genetic testing can result in the discovery of genealogical relationships that the test taker didn’t know existed. It is commonplace to find unknown second or third cousins as a result of DNA testing.… However, finding a new relative at the first-cousin level (or even closer) can be unexpected. For example, it is not uncommon to find new half-siblings, aunts/uncles/nieces/nephews, first cousins or previously unknown close relatives through test results.”1
Unexpected results can lead to uncomfortable situations. There are many adoptees who know this better than most.
“As millions test their DNA, the media has become saturated with stories of tearful reunions and happy endings. Biological fathers who had no idea they had fathered children embrace their newfound offspring. Large extended families happily accept the new half-sibling, nephew, niece, grandchild, or cousin they never knew existed… The outcomes of a DNA surprise can be many and varied… For many test takers presented with DNA surprises, the outcomes can be worse than the shock of the test results. Rejection, indifference, and denial are commonplace.”2
Because privacy laws and court judgments often block adoptees from obtaining their adoption files and civil records, many turn to DNA to uncover their roots and heritage. Navigating this experience may be difficult and uncomfortable for all the involved parties. Many ethical questions must be confronted. In speaking about the complications of adoptees and their DNA results, Bettinger wrote “Whose rights should prevail: the adoptee’s, the biological parents’, or the adoptive parents? Everyone should have a right to their own DNA and genetic heritage. Regardless, navigating this minefield of potential ethical issues can be difficult.”3 When an adoptee matches genetically with another person, even if the other person is not a parent or sibling of the adoptee, the match may get pulled into the situation and have to make hard decisions about what is and is not ethical to share with the other parties. Consider an adoptee who discovers a DNA match with a first cousin and contacts that cousin asking for information with the hope it will lead to the identity of a biological parent. That cousin may be willing to share information, but is it their right to do so? What if there are complex family dynamics and strained relationships that the adoptee is unaware of. The right to know the truth of where someone comes from and the right to privacy about difficult life decisions and situations are challenging to navigate in respectful and humane ways when emotions, secrets, and family relationships hang in the balance. There are support groups and helps for anyone navigating these types of situations, and there is no consensus about what rules apply to each situation except that feelings are at risk and emotions run high when biological facts contradict strongly held family narratives.