Discovering Our Roots
Who are we? What makes us who we are? Where do we come from? What does that tell us about ourselves? What difference does it make?
As the science of epigenetics explores how the environment and lifestyles from previous generations may impact our lives now, there seems to be increasing accessibility and popularity for home DNA kits and ancestry websites. This trend may indicate that more people are wondering about their backgrounds and feeling inclined to ask questions about what makes us who we are. Each person may be motivated to embark on this exploration for very different reasons, and the answers to these questions can be extremely complicated. However, the willingness and desire to gain information, insight and understanding may provide a window not only into our past, but can also give us a better sense for who we are today and may even inform us about the future.
Lilly’s parents divorced when she was just a few months old, and she never knew her father. She occasionally heard a story about how handsome he was, how he had been married before and probably had other children (which meant she had half-siblings) and how he worked at a theatre. She even heard several different versions about how he died when Lilly was just six years old. But she never met him before his death. She had never even seen a photograph. Now, more than sixty years later, Lilly has decided she wants to know more about her family of origin, where her father’s decedents came from and how they came to settle here. She joined an ancestry website and has spent hours online, sitting at city records offices, exploring military records, and visiting genealogy libraries.
Monica was raised in an adoptive family, by a stable and encouraging couple, who were always honest with Monica and willing to address any questions they could about her adoption. When she was in her early 20s, they helped her to locate her biological mother, and she developed a relationship with that side of her family. She was given limited information about her biological father, namely that he had died in an accident within weeks of Monica’s conception. She always wondered about her paternal side, and as Monica approached 40 years old, with children of her own, her desire intensified to find out more about her father and his family. She researched news archives, death records, ancestry websites, and ultimately contacted her father’s surviving siblings, who requested DNA evidence of their relationship.
Hanna has a significant understanding of her own family history, dating back several generations. She is a nutritionist and practices a comprehensive and holistic approach to diet, wellness and healing. As her commitment to her profession increases, she has become more interested in her own genetic composition and how it may impact her resilience or vulnerability to certain illness and disease in the future. She opted to take a DNA test designed to analyze these propensities and gain a deeper understanding of her own body and genetic make-up to better guide her in her lifestyle choices.
The energy, time, expense, and emotional investment involved with this type of research does not come without risk and potential for disappointment. So what makes it worthwhile? Lilly, Monica and Hanna’s answers to this question were consistent. Whether they were seeking out meaningful information, searching for evidence or reaching for a connection to the past, they all agreed that though there were no guarantees, they were open to whatever they found. They reported feeling empowered by the process and a sense of validation by what they discovered. They are not alone. There is now complete accessibility to home DNA kits and over 2.4 million paying subscribers on the Ancestry.com website. This recent insurgence of DNA testing and obtaining family history seems to indicate that many people are interested in a deeper understanding of themselves. Whether researching risk for disease, discovering heritage or ethnic origin, or reuniting with long-lost family members, there is a growing desire to understand where we come from and allow it to inform the way we move into the future.