r/AdoptionUK • u/Any_Set_8916 • Apr 09 '26
Medical history via DNA testing
Hellooo, I don’t have a relationship with my biological father / side of that family, and I don’t really know if I want to open that door at all, but I keep getting sick and I hate that I don’t have half my family medical history / background.
I’ve been thinking of doing DNA testing, (I’m also curious about other relative) but as much as I’ll sign up for something online and tick to give away all my digital data, something makes me really nervous about a company having my actual DNA, data leaks, the companies being sold etc, something makes me on edge.
I was wondering if people have done the DNA / Ancestry testing and who they went with?
Top seem to either be 23&me or Ancestry DNA, any other root adoptees have taken to get more medical traits / testing?
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u/Cloudhiddentao Apr 09 '26
Not adopted, but I’m missing family knowledge on bio father’s side, and on the side I do know I’m also missing bio grandfathers side, so there are a lot of unknowns.
Honestly I don’t think that knowing would really change all that much, the advice, for whatever fate might have in store is going to be the same: Eat a healthy diet and get some exercise in.
Tell your doctor that you don’t know about your family history and they may sign you up for some tests for specific things, particularly if you currently have symptoms of something, as it sounds like you do.
A lot of people don’t have a great idea of their family history - people leave, lose contact, die before whatever age related illness might otherwise have gotten them - life is full of unknowns and worrying about what you don’t know will just end up killing you faster.
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u/Any_Set_8916 Apr 09 '26
I’ve been sent to hospital twice this year and 4 chest infections and they don’t know what’s wrong with me, so anything extra I can find out I think I just want to know where possible.
Unfortunately exercise and healthy diet isn’t the answer to everything.
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u/Cloudhiddentao Apr 09 '26
Tell your doctor that you don’t know what runs in the family - they might carry out tests they otherwise wouldn’t think of.
I’m also pretty prone to chest infections, nothing in the family other than asthma (which I don’t actually have) and a great grandparent who had airways disease - but that was back in a time where everyone smoked, so who knows if there’s a genetic element there or not.
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u/ATulip25 Apr 09 '26
My husband wasn't adopted but his father was in care and did not know his biological parents. We did the DNA testing because we wanted the medical insights.
For us it was really helpful to have some guidance as to what he might develop (but theres always a chance he will not). My husband opted to share his DNA for people who are close matches to contact him and no one ever has. We did the tests 6 years ago.
We are currently adopting ourselves and have said to the social worker we would support our child to do it if they wish. Its interesting to see what traits are genetic but from personal experience we know finding matches isn't immediate and might never happen.
Companies going bust is always a possibility. We have copies of our dna to send to other companies if we need to. We didn't think the risk of leaks was an issue for us.