23 and Me

[Lamplighter]

The thing I found most amusing is how many times they warn you
about how you may learn things about yourself that you didn't actually want to know,
most often in cases of paternity.

This can be a serious problem throughout a family; and
"illegitimate" is a terrible word still being used here in the US.

My experience with pedigrees for medical genetics convinced me that in the US
the so called "ancestry" industry does harm to families that is hidden from the general public.

Particularly in families with children with genetic or birth defects,
the discovery of false paternity (or even rarely, maternity) can lead to all degrees of family trauma.

It's hard to accept, but there are men who decide:
"It's not my child so I'm not going to support it."
This is not just a matter of $, but attitudes ripple out through family relationships.

Ancestry, like the Lottery, should be "for entertainment only".

Maybe younger parents now will have more accepting attitudes towards
adoptions and unexpected paternity testings than did previous generations ... but I doubt it.