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The two part blog series I wrote in February talks about the different types of DNA tests that can be utilized in your adoption search. Before you turn to DNA testing to help uncover your natural ancestry you first should probably learn some basics.
Each individual’s physical traits and characteristics are determined from our genes and our chromosomes hold our genetic material and carry genetic information in long strands of DNA called genes. DNA acts as a blue print for creating a human being. Each pair of chromosomes are made up of one chromosome that is inherited from the father and one from the mother.
So, in adoption when you wonder why your eyes are a certain color or your hair is a certain color it is genes that pass these traits from the natural parents to their offspring. This passage of traits is through gene transmission and the genes are located on chromosomes and consist DNA.
Below are a few resources that may aid you in understanding the genetic principles I have attempted to explain.
DNA Testing Article on Adoption.com
Genetic Science Learning Center: The Basics and Beyond
So, everyone gets half of their chromosomes from our biological fathers and half from our biological mothers and each half represents our ancestors and what we have inherited through our maternal and paternal lines. All of the information gets shuffled like a deck of cards but some of it remains unshuffled from parent to child and it is this small segment of our genetic code that is mutated. The mutations then become markers of our descent.
All chromosomes are found in matching pairs. However the Y chromosome or the sex chromosome comes from the father. Since the Y chromosome doesn’t have a match it escapes from the shuffling that occurs and the Y chromosome is allowed to pass down through the made line of descendants changed only my some random mutational events.
It is important to know what your goal is going to be if you choose to use DNA testing in your adoption search.
Do you want to be added to an adoption reunion registry in order to find your natural relatives?
Do you want to confirm the relationship of an already found relative?
Do you want to discover if your internationally adopted child has a sibling here in the United States?
Do you want to know your ancestral history?
Once you know what your goal is you can act accordingly and choose an established DNA testing center and lab.
Keep in mind you may not get the information you are seeking. DNA is based on percentages and a reputable lab will not claim a relationship that is not definitely there.
DNA… The new forensics? Not if there is a way to destroy any signs of DNA in a body of an infant, who wasnt ever embaled. Formulin, Will it destroy DNA?