While DNA testing and genetic evidence are certainly useful for breaking down challenging historic brick walls, the implications of DNA testing can also hit closer to home in the modern era when it comes to adoption research. In cases of adoption, unknown parentage or misattributed parentage, genetic genealogy methodologies enable identification of close biological ancestors whose identities might otherwise remain unknown, and which represent immediate brick walls for any genealogist dealing … [Read more...]
How Genealogy Research Provides Comfort After a DNA Surprise
A DNA Surprise is an event in a person's life where they find out their parentage is not what they had always believed. In this article we talk with Right to Know founder Kara Rubinstein Deyerin about her own DNA Surprise and how genealogy research and other tools can provide comfort during this challenging experience. Tell us how you felt when you had a DNA surprise. I felt like a unicorn. Who grows up thinking they are half Black and learns they're not? I felt very much alone when I … [Read more...]
Legacy Tree Mystery: Miss Mamie – a daughter lost and found
Genealogy adoption mysteries are found in many family trees, with stories and legends about ancestors passed down for generations. Like any good genealogy adoption mystery, the path to discovery can be long and difficult, but is always easier with an expert genealogist on your team. In this Legacy Tree Mystery, we reunite a family torn apart for decades and solve the case of the Mysterious Miss Mamie and her disappearance at the young age of six. The Mystery Mamie's mother died just weeks … [Read more...]
Biological vs. Cultural Heritage
Biological vs. cultural heritage, also known as nature vs. nurture, is a question withstanding the test of time. If DNA testing reveals surprises in your family tree, consider what "family" means to you. Genealogy is full of surprises. As I was wrapping up a large pedigree project for one of our clients recently, a couple of birth records that had been lost in the mail finally arrived. They revealed that the man the client had always known as her paternal grandfather was not actually … [Read more...]