Dorie’s Different Reality

I asked the hubby if I could spend $249. Not that he would ever deny me anything, but it is better when we talk about things before one of us spends more than say, $25 for yarn or $30 for electronic parts. I want to get my DNA tested.  At first, the best way to get ethnic information was from the Y chromosome test. But they’ve been working to perfect tests for women. Now they have a matrilineal one which will go from woman to woman all the way back to our Founding Mother. Also, they can give you ethnic regional markers.  So while it’s not like a paternity test on the Maury show, they could tell you if you were part Native American or Asian, etc. I have a Melungeon ancestor and it would be interesting to know what shows up- but that’s through my grandfather, so it wouldn’t come through on the female’s test. Maybe if I had $50,000 to have my entire DNA sequenced, but I doubt it would be very interesting.  My Dad’s genes dominate in me- smart, underachieving people with bad eyesight!

My Ulterior Motive - other than having neat family ethnicity info is this:

Before I was born my mother put a baby out for adoption. As they did in the bad old days. Deep dark family secret. My poor mom didn’t even tell my dad before they were married and keeping a secret like  that eats a person alive. Long sad story there.

Anyhow, when I have the test done, I can sign a release, which will allow my info to be shared with other people. So I’d get a report reading things like “Mrs.  Jane Smith of Spokane is your 2nd cousin, etc.  It’s a long shot, but what if, just what if, my  long-lost sibling takes that same test and gets a “Dorie from Maryland is your half-sister”? That would be cool. That would be a miracle, but I’ve known those to happen now and again. Or down the road, her kids might get tested and find out they have cousins or reconnect to the rest of the family some way.

So, we got the tax refund.

1-New Water Softener- essential because our water is so bad.

2-New Washer- because the carpy water made the washer leak!

3-Get DNA test and someday find more family- totally worth it!

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 28th, 2010 at 12:41 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.