Chloé Burban
The article I’m going to talk about was published on the APA website in June 2018 and written by Stephanie Pappas. It deals with DNA testing and family secrets.
In addition to being a topic increasingly on the media scene, it turns out that it is in the heart of the news considering recent debates on the legalization of assisted reproduction and surrogacy.In France, the legislation relating to DNA tests is very strict and their administration is very controlled: it is only authorized to detect hereditary pathologies. On the other hand, in the United States, the legislation is quite different and laxier. The first free-access DNA tests were used in a recreational way: to determine one’s genealogical line or to know one’s ethnic origins (rate of genes common to this or that continent). The growing interest for this type of DNA testing made it an original and nice gift to offer, and a curiosity push a large users number to take the plunge. Since it is very easy to get a DNA test on the internet, and then just send a DNA sample and wait for the results shortly thereafter; this procedure is creating a gigantic international DNA databases.
Nowadays, these tests are not only used for recreational purposes but also in self-quests that are much more impactful and upsetting for their users. In the meantime, there has been several TV programs and articles reporting the impact and consequences of these DNA tests on the personal and family life of those already carried out.
I chose this particular article because in addition to considering the possible risks, it includes a notion of benefits and warning that I find interesting to convey. It discusses the dangers and earnings of this type of commercial DNA testing, including the consequences on adoptees or people conceived with the help of donor gametes or simply taboos and family secrets. This is a rather simple article to read, which can be considered as a good introduction to this complicated and bubbling theme that is DNA testing.
What I found interesting in this article is that it gives both advantages and disadvantages to the realization of this type of DNA tests. It does not content to expose only the best or the worst aspects. To introduce the topic, the article begins with the testimony of a young woman who discovered without searching for it, by means of a DNA test, that she had been conceived by a sperm donation. This young woman then embarked on a quest for her origins and self, which led her to meet her biological father thanks to the DNA database of the company with which she conducted her test. The article justifies this search for oneself as being rooted in our genes. This idea helps to reassure people who are trying to understand their origins and families can be more open to dialogue and let the child achieve this quest more easily. This quest for oneself is therefore quite natural and must not be oppressed. On the contrary, because it is not a question of rejecting the family that has educated and raised us, but of being sufficiently confident with ourselves to explore the world in search of our origins.
PROS
Those DNA test represent a boon in research of adoptees or conceived with assistance from sperm or eggs donors. It gives them a way to search for biological siblings and parents even without help from adoption agency or fertility clinic. This is possible thanks to huge online databases like 23andMe and Ancestry.com. Furthermore, most often the search (and discovery) process is positive because it relieves offspring, by resolving lingering questions about their identities and the opportunity to feel acceptance.
Otherwise, to biological parents, particularly those who gave children up for adoption, reunification often relieves guilt, uncertainty and helps to resolve this complicated bereavement process for them.
CONS
For everyone who does not expect any surprises, discovering that their family is not as they thought it was can be profoundly disorienting, even life-changing.
Unfortunately, there are not many psychological resources available in this field. The article gave the example of a woman who saw a counselor after discovering she was donor conceived, but she felt like she educates her therapist instead of being supported by her.
At-home DNA testing are excessively speed and ease to use than it can cause emotional whiplash. Thanks to this new resource, search times are considerably lessened. That involves a reduction of the time of psychological preparation for what one can discover. And so, people are not necessarily ready for what awaits them as they discover the results of their test.
Advices and recommandations
Although psychologists do not suggest to systematically see a counselor to prepare, they strongly recommend taking the time to think about the potential fallouts, the importance that we place on genetics in our identity and our goals by exploring our DNA story. They also recommend considering at your support options (family, friends, doctors, anyone we trust who might be supportive). All the more, if professional resources are scarce, online community resources can be very supportive.
Further reading
- Brodzinsky, D.M., & Goldberg, A.E. (2016). Contact with Birth Family in Adoptive Families Headed by Lesbian, Gay Male, and Heterosexual Parents. Children and Youth Services Review.
- Golombok, S. (2015). Modern Families: Parents and Children in New Family Forms. Cambridge University Press.
- Golombok, S., et al. (2017). A Longitudinal Study of Families Formed Through Reproductive Donation: Parent-Adolescent Relationships and Adolescent Adjustment at Age 14. Developmental Psychology.
Words I learnt
Gestational surrogacy = maternité de substitution, gestation pour autrui (GPA)
Genealogical line = lignée généalogique
To take the plunge = sauter le pas, franchir le cap
Self-quest = la quête de soi
Bubbling = bouillonnant
A boon = une aubaine
Biological siblings = frères et sœurs biologiques
Offspring = progéniture
Lingering questions = question en suspens
Bereavement process = processus de deuil
A whiplash = coup de fouet
Fallouts = les retombées
An out-of-wedlock pregnancy = une grossesse hors mariage
Bibliography
Pappas, S. (2018, June). Genetic testing and family secrets. Monitor on Psychology, 49(6). http://www.apa.org/monitor/2018/06/cover-genetic-testing