Issue link: https://tmcpulse.uberflip.com/i/1089662
t m c » p u l s e | m a r c h 2 0 1 9 8 Most of the companies offer information about a person's ancestry or genealogy, including ethnicity and genetic connections between other individuals who have also completed genetic tests. The kits can also confirm kinship if both parties purchase a kit and their genealogy matches. Some genetic tests are also now providing information about predispositions for certain diseases and conditions, including heart disease, breast cancer, Parkinson's, Alzheimer's and carrier status for cystic fibrosis and sickle cell disease. Information that was once only available through appointments with specialists is now just a drop of saliva away. But what happens if, like Moore, you learn some- thing completely unanticipated? "Sometimes, unexpected ancestry information can be more upsetting than getting unanticipated health risk information, because it can really disrupt family relations," said Amy McGuire, J.D., Ph.D., director of the Center for Medical Ethics and Health Policy at Baylor College of Medicine. "Some of those well-kept secrets that people thought they'd go to their grave with are no longer sustainable." It is impossible to predict how people will pro- cess new genetic information. "It's often difficult to anticipate how people are going to react, and different people will react to the same situation differently," said Jessica Roberts, J.D., director of the Health Law & Policy Institute at the University of Houston. "You can imagine finding out your father is not your father could be very disruptive to a family unit, but then I've also heard anecdotes of a person saying, 'We uncovered misattributed paternity,' and the person was relieved because they never liked their dad or they never felt connected." As for Moore, she feels devastated that she never had the chance to meet her biological father, who, like the parents who raised her, has also passed away. Growing up, Moore said, she never quite felt like she belonged, but she never imagined it was because of a missing biological link. "My whole life, I always wondered, Who do I take after? Who do I look like? I didn't fit really with any- body," Moore said. "I never got to meet my father. That was taken from me, and who had the right to do that?" Wheeler told Moore how disappointed his father had been that he never knew any of the potentially hundreds of children his sperm donations had helped bring to life, and that his father had always hoped there was a daughter out there in the world. Not long after their discovery, Wheeler was also matched with a half-brother who, like Moore, had no clue about his hidden family lineage. "They invariably say the same things, like they never really felt like they belonged in some kind of weird way," Wheeler said. "It was like they were robbed of that potential identity." Wheeler's family has embraced Moore and tried to help her feel connected. She has been both sur- prised and delighted to learn just how much she and her birth father share. "It was like all these little tiny things that I do, that you think are your own personality and that are learned socially—it's not," Moore said. "It's like everything that I am is exactly how he was, and I never met him. The interesting part to me was realizing how much of yourself is already pre-wired. You almost don't have a choice." Moore has connected with other donor- conceived children through Facebook groups and said that her feelings are not uncommon. "There's thousands of us, and every single person feels the same way. They're angry and they're confused," she said. But, she added, she is one of the lucky ones, as she has gained a new family in the Wheelers. "Knowing my new family—that part is awesome," Moore said. "It was like the secret I'd been looking for my whole life." Not all donor-conceived children have such a straightforward response. Amy McGuire, J.D., Ph.D., sits in her Baylor office.