DNA testing for adoptees

This page provides information and resources on DNA testing for adoptees.

ISOGG highly recommends that adoptees, orphans, donor conceived individuals and others with sensitive matters work with experienced search organizations prior to making contact with biological families.

Websites

Utilizing DNA testing to break through adoption roadblocks

General

DNA Detectives Facebook group The largest gathering of individuals of unknown parentage using DNA results to identify biological family
DNA Adoption
Dick Hill's DNA Testing Advisor website
DNA success & surprise stories A searchable compilation provided by Louise Coakley which includes many adoption stories
Child Migrants Trust A specialist service for all Britain's former child migrants and their families in Canada, New Zealand, the former Rhodesia and Australia
GI Trace An organisation set up to help people in Germany, Austria, the UK and elsewhere trace their American GI fathers
Adoption Database Registry An international database listing "adoptees, birth mothers, birth fathers, birth siblings, other birth family and adoptive family members in the process of searching for a family member".
Right to Know A US-based organisation advocating for "people impacted by DNA surprises and misattributed parentage experiences (MPE) which can occur due to an adoption, assisted conception, or those conceived from a non-paternal event (NPE) and promote understanding of the complex intersection of genetic information, identity, and family dynamic".

Projects

Asia

Asia Adoption DNA Facebook group

Australia

Australian DNA hub for adoptees

Canada

British Home Children in Canada
Canadian Roots An organisation helping Canadian War Children born in the UK trace their roots in Canada.

Chile

Roots A not-for-profit organisation which provides free DNA testing kits to unite families affected by the 1908s kidnapping operations
‘Time we can’t get back’: stolen at birth, Chilean adoptees uncover their past

China

ICSA China Advice on DNA testing for adoptees with Chinese roots
DNA Connect is a not for profit organisation which is providing low-cost DNA testing in China to help reunite children who have been sent to America for adoption with their birth parents in China. See this success story.
New book follows journey of Chinese adoptee’s search for her birth family. AsAm News, 24 March 2022.
The Roots of Love A project dedicated to reuniting adoptees with their birth mothers. The project initially focused on China’s Chongqing Municipality, but now assists adoptees from all regions of China.

Colombia

Plan Angel A voluntary organisation which helps to bring families together.

Ireland

Barnardo's post-adoption service A specialist therapeutic service for children and teenagers who are adopted both internationally and domestically - and their parents.
Adoption research by John Grenham. Irish Roots blog, 29 August 2017.
Solving adoption mysteries in your family tree by Maurice Gleeson, Genetic Genealogy Ireland blog, September 2014. A comprehensive guide to adoption research in Ireland.
Clann A project gathering data on Ireland's homes for unmarried mothers and their children.
Ireland's Lost Babies A documentary about Irish babies who were sent to America by the Catholic Church.
The ISOGG Ireland commentary on the proposed Adoption Bill 2016 5 March 2108.

Korea

325Kamra A non-profit group helping Korean adoptees reunite with their birth families in Korea.
- The role of DNA in uniting families. A blog post from FamilyTreeDNA about their work work 325Kamra.
Adopted Koreans, Stymied in Search of Birth Parents, Find Hope in a Cotton Swab by Marie Tae McDermott, New York TImes, 27 August 2016.
DNA test reunites adoptee with birth mother by Claire Lee, The Korea Herald, 15 August 2016.
Facebook group for DNA tested Korean adoptees
Free DNA tests for Korean orphans (Facebook group)

Russia

Find lost Russian and Ukrainian Family A blog by Vera Miller which includes stories of adoptee searches and advice on DNA testing for people searching for family in Russia and the Ukraine.

United Kingdom

Adoption records UK Government website including Contact Registry
Overview of adoption in Northern Ireland
Adoption records in Scotland
Adoption Search Reunion website
Adoption Services for Adults With effect from 14th July Adoption Services will be the keeper of the Norcap Contact Register. They will be able to check for registrations from the 65,000 + names already on the list, but will not be taking new registrations. Contact
Birthlink - Adults Affected by Adoption (Scotland). Birthlink also hosts the Adoption Contact Register for Scotland
The UK Birth Adoption Register
The Barnardos Making Connections service
History of formal adoption and the law. Family Tree Forum reference library article.
PAC-UK The agency for adoption and permanency support
LookupUK.com A resource centre for finding lost friends and relatives in the UK
A Child for Keeps: The History of Adoption in England 1918-1945 A book by Jenny Keating from the Institute of Historical Research reviewed by Daniel Grey, September 2009.
- Adoption in England and Wales - the twentieth century A useful collection of slides from Jenny Keating,
Adoption articles from The Guardian newspaper
Mother and Baby Homes
Descendants of Deceased Adopted Persons Group (DAP) The group also has an associated Facebook group
A guide to researching adopted ancestors by Kristen Hyde, Ancestry UK blog, 12 May 2021.
How to find adoption records in the UK by Gill Rossini, Who Do You Think You Are? Magazine, 1o July 2023.

USA

Tips for finding adoption or orphanage records Ancestry.com Support Center article.
Adoption.com Registry
International Soundex Reunion Registry
G’s Registry
The ALMA Society's Adoption Registry
Concerned United Birthparents (CUB)
American Adoption Congress
- State by state legislation
Adoptee Rights Coalition
Adoptee Rights Law Includes information on which states restrict or don't restrict access to an adoptee's original birth certificate
Adoptees United A not-for-profit organisation founded in 2019 which provides support for adoptees and campaigns for equal rights for adoptees. They also have a DNA donation program to provide DNA kits for those in need.

Vietnam

An organisation called Amerasians Without Borders uses DNA testing to identify Amerasians still in Vietnam, advocates for them to immigrate to the U.S., and supports them once they are resettled. The testing is done in partnership with Family Tree DNA. For details see the article One man's mission to bring home 'Amerasian' born during the Vietnam War.

Perspectives and opinions

Lifelong issues in adoption by Deborah N. Silverstein and Sharon Kaplan, American Adoption Congress.
Silent voices heard: impact of the birth mother experience: then and now byDonna Portuesi, American Adoption Congress.
The idea of adoption: An Inquiry into the History of Adult Adoptee Access to Birth Records. Rutgers Law Review, Vol. 53, p. 367, 2001.
Birth Records of Illegitimates and of Adopted Children
The Donaldson Adoption Institute – research and publications on many adoption related topics including access to records.
National Council for Adoption – mainstream opposition to unrestricted access to adoption records and original birth certificates.
Secret Sons and Daughters Adoptee tales from the sealed records era
Why isn’t my mother looking for me Priscilla Stone Sharp – Search Angel, 22 July 2011.
Birth Mother First Mother Forum. This website has many articles that address the various birth mothers' perspectives. Here is a selection:
- A letter to (birth) mothers who reject reunion by Lorraine Dusky [Birth Mother] First Mother Forum, 10 November 2011. A letter written for adoptees by a mother who gave her own child up for adoption.
- Why did my mother keep me a secret? by Jane Edwards, [Birth Mother] First Mother Forum, 29 August 2012. A birth mother's perspective.
- A relationship with my daughter goes awry. Reason unknown by Lorraine Dusky. [Birth Mother] First Mother Forum, 6 August 2013. A reunion that goes bad.
- Time to end the myth of first mother's right to privacy by Jane Edwards, [Birth Mother] First Mother Forum, 17 July 2014.
Respect and rights. Deb's Delvings in Genealogy, 27 September 2016.
Adoption and abduction: legal differences, emotional similarities by Mirah Riben. Huffington Post, 28 January 2017.
An open letter to Long Lost Family by How to Be Adopted, an adoptee living in London, England.

Blogs

Adoption and DNA by CeCe Moore
Three Branch Tree by Laurie Pratt. A blog documented the story of a misattributed paternity and the quest to identify the biological father
Adoption Reunion Search Resources Blog by Diane Harman-Hoog
Women’s Voices Magazine - Search Angels by Priscilla Stone Sharp

Success stories

See main article: Adoption success stories

Searching with 23andMe A compilation of adoptees' DNA success stories from 23andMe, 4 August 2015.
Finding Foleys An adoption success story from Karen Corbeil

News articles

DNA search angels: the Facebook 'detectives' who help reunite families by Oscar Schwarz. The Guardian, 29 April 2019.
DNA testing connects adoptees with birth parents. What happens next is complicated by Mary Jo Pitzi, AZ Central, 30 November 2017.
How DNA testing has transformed adoption search by Richard Hill. Adoption Today, 20th Anniversary Special Edition 2017, pp22-23.
Buried secrets, living children: secrecy, shame, and sealed adoption records by Lisa Munro. Nursing Clio, 10 October 2017.
DNA’s new ‘miracle’: How adoptees are using online registries to find their blood relatives by Tara Bahrampour. Washington Post, 12 October 2016.
When mum and dad are actually aunt and uncle by Athar Ahmad and Kirren Rathor. BBC News Magazine, 4 October 2016.
Why did international adoption suddenly end? by Ben Christopher, Priceonomics, 29 July 2016.

Methodology

How to find and connect with family using a DNA test by Kaitlyn Short, Best Company, 18 February 2021.
Solving adoption mysteries with DNA by Maurice Gleeson. DNA and Family Tree Research.
Searching for biological relatives: from DNA test to reunion A guest blog post from Richard Weiss of DNA Adoption on the MyHeritage blog, 19 June 2018.
Finding biological family A guide from Ancestry
Five tips for discovering biological family with AncestryDNA
Contacting your birth parent or siblings by Legacy Tree Genealogists

Videos

Using DNA to solve unknown parentage cases by Maurice Gleeson, 21 June 2018.
DNA testing for adoptees: searching for biological roots Diahan Southard interviews CeCe Moore, 17 June 2017.
Finding family with DNA testing: a genetic detective story by Richard Hill. A presentation given at Who Do You Think You Are? Live in April 2016.
20/20 "Since the Day I was Born" DNA testing is used to solve the high profile case of three half-siblings abandoned by the same mother, March 2016.
AncestryDNA: More tips for identifying biological family by Crista Cowan, AncestryDNA, 19 January 2016
Finding Sue: the journey by Rob Warthen. A presentation given at Genetic Genealogy Ireland in Dublin in October 2015.
Solving adoption mysteries in your family tree. A presentation given by Maurice Gleeson at Genetic Genealogy Ireland, Dublin, in October 2014.
The search for biological family AncestryDNA, 19 June 2014.

Mailing lists

DNA Adoption mailing list on Google Groups A mailing list founded by a team of experienced search angels for adoptees and anyone else utilizing DNA to discover unknown heritage or search for close biological family. The group was originally founded in May 2013 on the now discontinued Yahoo Groups.

General Facebook groups

Genealogy Groups on Facebook - a comprehensive list
DNA Detectives (for help with interpretation of DNA results). The group also offers a Kits of Kindness Program to help those who are searching for biological family but cannot afford to pay the costs of DNA testing
DNA Detectives American Asian group
DNA Detectives Down Under
DNA Detectives UK and Ireland
Search Squad (for help with the genealogy)
DNAAdoption
GI and Family International Search
Aussie and UK Angels
DNA Detectives Unknown Fathers group

Books

Karen Bali. Researching Adoption: An Essential Guide to Tracing Birth Relatives and Ancestors. Family History Partnership (UK), 2015.
Paul Joseph Fronczak. The Foundling: The True Story of a Kidnapping, a Family Secret and My Search for the Real Me. Howard Books, 2017.
Richard Hill. Finding Family: My Search for Roots and the Secrets in My DNA. Createspace, 2012.
Georgina Stafford. Where to find adoption records: a guide for counsellors, adopted people and birth relatives. British Agencies for Adoption and Fostering (now coramBAAF), 2001.
Nancy Newton Verrier. The primal wound: understanding the adopted child. British Association for Adoption and Fostering (now coramBAAF, 2009.