23 and me

[Anonymous]

You can share your result or not. Be open to finding relatives or not. I didn't do those things.

[Anonymous]

Adopted people absolutely have to do a DNA test. Their entire identity, ethnicity, biological relationships, and birth story, (even actual birth date information often), was removed away and it's high time that society stops pretending that everyone should leave it in the past. Adoption should be about the child, not the adoptive parents. Children are not commidities for infertile couples. These adopted people have every ethical right to seek out all parties and learn who they are, and unaware bio parents, bio siblings, relatives,too should also. Everyone should know who everyone is related to and what the story was- no matter what the circumstances. The time for secrecy, lies, and toxic patriarchal behavior is over.

With regard to privacy with companies, your actual medical records are far more at risk than anything in a DNA kit. Your medical records are associated with your name, age, SS# , address, and just about everything that is known about you, and that often involves DNA too. Many medical situations have been hacked over the years. I've received 4 notices in 10 years of various breaches.

DNA kits aren't associated with your identity unless you choose to provide it. That means your name or anything. However, here's the real truth. You may never decide to do a test kit, but if anyone at all in your family or extended family has completed one- yes, your DNA is out there too. It would take me less than a half hour to locate you through a 3rd or even 4th cousin, uncle, aunt if I wanted to. **Ask me how I found all my bio relatives! Most never even took a test.

Health insurance- currently illegal to use for denying service, but if it ever becomes legal, no one needs to hunt your DNA down and try and match you up in any stealth way. Insurance companies will find out straight up with a blood sample- just like many life insurances currently do.

[Anonymous]

I have helped a number of friends find their birth parents. Ancestry.com is definitely the better product to do this with. More people test there and a lot of people use it to create family trees which are very important if you don’t have a direct match.

[Anonymous]

Ancestry is your better bet. I am half adopted and my bio dad is a s3x offender so I didn't do any testing because of that reason.

I think all adoptees should have their DNA done for the health glimpses it may offer like hereditary cancer risk. For that, look at Color.

FWIW, 23 and Me's user agreement always said they would sell your data. Now it's being sold. NBD.

[Anonymous]

I'm with everyone else- do Ancestry, not 23andme because of the current mess. I was on both but deleted my 23andme data recently.

That said, yes, I've seen so many surprises crop up. I;ve heard horror stories about loonies pursuing newly discovered relatives for money. Maybe chat with him about using his initials or some other type of abbreviation for his name so he can't be found offline, until he's ensured the close bio relatives are normal.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Ancestry is your better bet. I am half adopted and my bio dad is a s3x offender so I didn't do any testing because of that reason.

I think all adoptees should have their DNA done for the health glimpses it may offer like hereditary cancer risk. For that, look at Color.

FWIW, 23 and Me's user agreement always said they would sell your data. Now it's being sold. NBD.

They sell aggregate data, and that's if one opts in only, not your personal data. None of the other kits have any different systems, no different security, no different policy-it's all there. Your name doesn't have to be associated with any of it if you do not want it to be. It's a business, selling it changes nothing.

You have less control of your actual assigned medical records, frankly.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I have helped a number of friends find their birth parents. Ancestry.com is definitely the better product to do this with. More people test there and a lot of people use it to create family trees which are very important if you don’t have a direct match.

There's just more people on Ancestry, but 23 nMe has much better medical info. Anyone who is adopted needs that.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:If your kid wants their DNA on the Dark Web forever, sure, go ahead.

Everyone is on the Dark Web. Everyone. This isn't special.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:They just had a walk out, they are not to be trusted. There are questions about what will be done with all the private info they hold. People who have used them can go on and delete their info, and should do so immediately .
That being said, most adopted kids have access to trustworthy searches for free, ask at the agency.
Mine are adopted too.

What agency? You realize that most adoptees were actually "private" meaning they were sold, effectively . Most states have sealed records that no one can access.
If If they could access in a state, that does lead to any medical or other relationships such as paternity, siblings, ethnicity,or birth story.

[Anonymous]

DNA cannot affect health insurance, denial of care, or insurance rates. Life insurance will be affected, but they will just ask you to do a blood test. Anyone worried about that info? Apparently not

When this administration destroys our insurance and starts to use pre existing conditions, they will ask you for your info, lol, they really aren't going to sneak around private sites and start picking apart your DNA profile, even if they can figure out who you are, where you live, who you are related to. Plus, it isn't really hard to find out who has cancer, MS, Huntingtons, Parkinson's, whatever in your family with almost no information at all. There is no such thing as privacy. Really.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:I have helped a number of friends find their birth parents. Ancestry.com is definitely the better product to do this with. More people test there and a lot of people use it to create family trees which are very important if you don’t have a direct match.

There's just more people on Ancestry, but 23 nMe has much better medical info. Anyone who is adopted needs that.

o

Yes, that’s true. I guess it depends on what your goals are in testing.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Adopted people absolutely have to do a DNA test. Their entire identity, ethnicity, biological relationships, and birth story, (even actual birth date information often), was removed away and it's high time that society stops pretending that everyone should leave it in the past. Adoption should be about the child, not the adoptive parents. Children are not commidities for infertile couples. These adopted people have every ethical right to seek out all parties and learn who they are, and unaware bio parents, bio siblings, relatives,too should also. Everyone should know who everyone is related to and what the story was- no matter what the circumstances. The time for secrecy, lies, and toxic patriarchal behavior is over.

With regard to privacy with companies, your actual medical records are far more at risk than anything in a DNA kit. Your medical records are associated with your name, age, SS# , address, and just about everything that is known about you, and that often involves DNA too. Many medical situations have been hacked over the years. I've received 4 notices in 10 years of various breaches.

DNA kits aren't associated with your identity unless you choose to provide it. That means your name or anything. However, here's the real truth. You may never decide to do a test kit, but if anyone at all in your family or extended family has completed one- yes, your DNA is out there too. It would take me less than a half hour to locate you through a 3rd or even 4th cousin, uncle, aunt if I wanted to. **Ask me how I found all my bio relatives! Most never even took a test.

Health insurance- currently illegal to use for denying service, but if it ever becomes legal, no one needs to hunt your DNA down and try and match you up in any stealth way. Insurance companies will find out straight up with a blood sample- just like many life insurances currently do.

Oh my…

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Adopted people absolutely have to do a DNA test. Their entire identity, ethnicity, biological relationships, and birth story, (even actual birth date information often), was removed away and it's high time that society stops pretending that everyone should leave it in the past. Adoption should be about the child, not the adoptive parents. Children are not commidities for infertile couples. These adopted people have every ethical right to seek out all parties and learn who they are, and unaware bio parents, bio siblings, relatives,too should also. Everyone should know who everyone is related to and what the story was- no matter what the circumstances. The time for secrecy, lies, and toxic patriarchal behavior is over.

With regard to privacy with companies, your actual medical records are far more at risk than anything in a DNA kit. Your medical records are associated with your name, age, SS# , address, and just about everything that is known about you, and that often involves DNA too. Many medical situations have been hacked over the years. I've received 4 notices in 10 years of various breaches.

DNA kits aren't associated with your identity unless you choose to provide it. That means your name or anything. However, here's the real truth. You may never decide to do a test kit, but if anyone at all in your family or extended family has completed one- yes, your DNA is out there too. It would take me less than a half hour to locate you through a 3rd or even 4th cousin, uncle, aunt if I wanted to. **Ask me how I found all my bio relatives! Most never even took a test.

Health insurance- currently illegal to use for denying service, but if it ever becomes legal, no one needs to hunt your DNA down and try and match you up in any stealth way. Insurance companies will find out straight up with a blood sample- just like many life insurances currently do.

Why try to sound so authoritative? You must have have some ego. You speak for yourself, I guess, but not at all for others in the adoption community. This adoptee and adoptive mom of 3 don't agree with you.

[Anonymous]

NP here that has whole family on 23 and me and has for years.

1) Your DC does not have to put their real name. So even though the DNA is supposedly protected, if somehow it does get out, it's not linked to your DC.

2) Your DC can choose to be contacted or not, and if so, it's only thru the website--no one is going to show up at anyone's door.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Adopted people absolutely have to do a DNA test. Their entire identity, ethnicity, biological relationships, and birth story, (even actual birth date information often), was removed away and it's high time that society stops pretending that everyone should leave it in the past. Adoption should be about the child, not the adoptive parents. Children are not commidities for infertile couples. These adopted people have every ethical right to seek out all parties and learn who they are, and unaware bio parents, bio siblings, relatives,too should also. Everyone should know who everyone is related to and what the story was- no matter what the circumstances. The time for secrecy, lies, and toxic patriarchal behavior is over.

With regard to privacy with companies, your actual medical records are far more at risk than anything in a DNA kit. Your medical records are associated with your name, age, SS# , address, and just about everything that is known about you, and that often involves DNA too. Many medical situations have been hacked over the years. I've received 4 notices in 10 years of various breaches.

DNA kits aren't associated with your identity unless you choose to provide it. That means your name or anything. However, here's the real truth. You may never decide to do a test kit, but if anyone at all in your family or extended family has completed one- yes, your DNA is out there too. It would take me less than a half hour to locate you through a 3rd or even 4th cousin, uncle, aunt if I wanted to. **Ask me how I found all my bio relatives! Most never even took a test.

Health insurance- currently illegal to use for denying service, but if it ever becomes legal, no one needs to hunt your DNA down and try and match you up in any stealth way. Insurance companies will find out straight up with a blood sample- just like many life insurances currently do.

Why try to sound so authoritative? You must have have some ego. You speak for yourself, I guess, but not at all for others in the adoption community. This adoptee and adoptive mom of 3 don't agree with you.

We've long since stopped caring what others think, all of us. In fact, you don't
get to decide what your adopted children think. It's about the adoptee, not the consumer.