By Janie F. Shelton, Ph.D., MPH, Senior Scientist at 23andMe
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As a woman in tech, articles about Silicon Valley’s bad behavior often catch my eye. Alongside the descriptions of the ping-pong tables, gluten-free snacks, and the on-tap craft beer, are stories that describe the underside of tech culture that is often just as hostile to women as the broader corporate world.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/509Z-23_original-540x742-1-218x300.jpeg" alt="" class="alignright wp-image-28091 size-medium" width="218" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/509Z-23_original-540x742-1-218x300.jpeg 218w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/509Z-23_original-540x742-1.jpeg 540w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 218px) 100vw, 218px" />
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Being an innovative company doesn’t always translate into creating an innovative work culture. Fortunately, there are places that do both. I know because I work at one — a groundbreaking biotech company that embraces gender diversity. For <a href="https://www.unwomen.org/en/news/in-focus/international-womens-day">International Women&#8217;s Day</a>, I want to highlight what gender parity looks like in business. 

<h6>Comparing Percentages</h6>
With recent evidence that gender equity in leadership improves the <a href="https://www.spglobal.com/_division_assets/images/special-editorial/iif-2019/whenwomenlead_.pdf">bottom line and so much conversation about the value of creating a culture where this is possible, </a>it’s worth taking a look at a company with a workforce almost equally split between men and women and with 42 percent of leadership roles occupied by women. Even more dramatic is that 60 percent of the vice president and above positions at 23andMe are occupied by women, and, of course, we are led by a woman. 
Only about 5 percent of the S&amp;P 500 companies have women CEOs, and women occupy just 26 percent of the executive or senior management positions at those companies.  The numbers for tech companies are worse. 
A recent study done on diversity in tech by the <a href="https://www.eeoc.gov/eeoc/statistics/reports/hightech/index.cfm">U.S. Equal Opportunity Commission</a> found that tech companies employed fewer women than the nation as a whole and that fewer women served in leadership roles. The numbers from that six-year-old study found that only about 20 percent of women were in leadership roles at tech companies. Looking at the private sector in general, women served in 29 percent of the leadership roles. 
<h6>Stalled Progress</h6>
It’s instructive to look at gender equity not just because of what it means for women, but for what it means for diversity more broadly. While some statistics show <a href="https://www.mckinsey.com/featured-insights/gender-equality/women-in-the-workplace-2019">modest improvements</a> for women in the last decade, we’re still far away from true equality in opportunity for women. 
A World Economic Forum report found that gender parity efforts in the United States were “<a href="https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2019/12/gender-gap-report-gender-parity-how-to-speed-up-progress/">stalling</a>.” Estimates are that compensation for women across a wide range of sectors won’t reach parity with men until <a href="https://www.wraltechwire.com/2020/01/02/world-faces-100-year-wait-for-gender-parity-us-even-longer-report/">2120</a>. 
With a few exceptions, the picture isn’t much better in Silicon Valley which has seen greater wealth creation than any region in history.
<h6>My Story</h6>
I stuck my toe in the water of tech at the age of 35, when I was 5-months pregnant. Perhaps not the best time to be looking for a job, but what I encountered was a culture welcoming of women, and parenthood. 
In fact, when I had finished with negotiations and accepted the job offer I was wincing when I told the 23andMe HR director I was expecting. She immediately responded with, “Congratulations! We love babies and children and hire a lot of pregnant people. Here are some of the great benefits I’d like to tell you about&#8230;” 
Fast-forward several years, I was promoted while out on maternity leave with my second daughter. I found this remarkable because it happened to my colleague too. It might be a commentary on the sad state of affairs for how women expect to be treated during pregnancy and maternity leave, but the impact is you are signaling to women at the company that yes, you can have a child and yes, you can also be a valued colleague entrusted with increasing responsibility.
<h6>The Whole Person</h6>
A culture that welcomed the “whole-person” at work was so different,  that I started to ask leaders to take their formula and shout it from the rooftops. But then I decided that I wanted to shout it from the rooftops. 
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Creating culture starts and ends with your values, but when women aren’t represented in leadership, how do those values get established? Here are a few observations about how 23andMe built a workplace that is welcoming to women by welcoming the “whole-person.” This is particularly important for women, who in traditional corporate culture have to hide who they are outside of work and their responsibilities at home or risk their career. 
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Here are a few things we do at 23andMe that I believe support women: 
<h6>Give challenging projects to women, and then let them take credit for their success. </h6>
23andMe signed some amazing deals in the past two years that were executed by majority-female teams. One of the most important agreements the company has ever entered into came together because of the women that made it happen, all while raising very young children.
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Giving visibility into other women succeeding not only gives credit where credit is due, but it shows other women — and men — in the company that yes you can have a family and be a critical asset to the company. 
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<h6>Recruit VPs who care about work-life balance. </h6>
At 23andMe, 42 percent of director-level positions and above are held by women. Not only that, many people in leadership roles are parents. If you want to have a family and be an executive, it is challenging to imagine how you might do that unless you see it done. 
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That matters because you want your employees to see a path forward. You want them to feel inspired to work hard to get to the next level. People naturally want to achieve and do well. But the demands of the home can create feelings of shame and underachievement in the workplace. It is liberating, inspiring, and motivating to see a VP leaving at 4 pm on some days to pick up his or her kids. It&#8217;s refreshing to see a VP take the afternoon for a field trip with his or her child&#8217;s class. And those leaders support employees doing the same. 
As Sheryl Sandberg says in her book Lean In, if you are a person in a higher-level role, “leave loudly.” 
Again the message should be that, yes you have to get your job done, but that doesn’t mean you neglect your responsibilities at home. 
<h6>When times get tough, have your team members’ backs. </h6>
People get married. They have children. They get divorced. They get sick. They lose parents. Support them through this. At 23andMe, I have heard our founder and CEO talk about this as an underlying management philosophy. 
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Why does this matter for gender equity at work? Because women shoulder much of the <a href="https://www.nydailynews.com/life-style/women-double-emotional-labor-men-article-1.3834039">emotional and physical labor</a> of keeping families together. If you treat people well during these major life events, you acknowledge and welcome the whole person in the workplace. And, by the way, this approach helps everyone who has a full life and commitments outside of work. It&#8217;s not just for people with children. 
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<h6>Celebrate pregnancy and welcome children. </h6>
<div id="attachment_28106" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-28106" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Playroom-300x300.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-28106 size-medium" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Playroom-300x300.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Playroom-150x150.jpg 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Playroom-768x768.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Playroom-1024x1024.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Playroom-880x880.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Playroom-1180x1180.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Playroom-271x271.jpg 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Playroom-372x372.jpg 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Playroom-574x574.jpg 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Playroom-980x980.jpg 980w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/Playroom.jpg 1440w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />An employee&#8217;s son, testing out the kids&#8217; room at 23andMe&#8217;s office.</div>
Anne Wojcicki, the CEO, and co-founder of 23andMe loves kids. She brings her kids into the office. She encouraged the creation of a fun kid-friendly space in our headquarters where we have games and a play structure for our kids when they are visiting. There are also several very well appointed “mother’s rooms,” where we can breastfeed or pump. And Anne has never been so excited to talk to me as when I was pregnant. She is so happy when people have babies. She encourages you to bring them into the office. And wait for the show stopper – she personally offered to babysit for me. Let me repeat that last one. The CEO of my company offered to babysit my child. 
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Now, if you are a CEO, don’t worry, you don’t have to babysit anyone’s kids. Company leaders set an example that can reach all the way down the organization to foster gender equity. Supporting women during and just after pregnancy, when they are most vulnerable and most at-risk for leaving, pays off in the long run. It builds deeper commitments from those women and retaining talent. It’s the kind of whole-person positivity that makes one actually feel good about their job and the place they work. 
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Creating and nurturing culture is hard. But intentional steps to welcome the whole person into the workplace adds more value than you might think. Not just for women, but for everybody. 
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When a male engineer recently told me why he came to 23andMe instead of going to Google or Facebook he said he got sick of the bro culture. He wanted more work-life balance. 
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Instead of adding another perk like laundry service or a sushi bar to get an edge on hiring during boom-times in Silicon Valley,  tech companies should optimize for woman-positive, whole-self work culture. 
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I’ll take it.

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

Women in tech: a look inside the culture of 23andMe

We&#8217;re still following the march of <a href="https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/index.html">Coronavirus across the globe,</a> but we&#8217;re also taking a break from the outbreak.
Last week&#8217;s shortlist of good reads includes a story about gene editing, something on the rats of New York, and a vivid story comparing the care of twin sisters for breast cancer in the UK and the US.  
<h6>Vision Quest</h6>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/eye.001-300x225.jpg" alt="" class="alignright wp-image-25671 size-medium" width="300" height="225" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/eye.001-300x225.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/eye.001-768x576.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/eye.001-880x660.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/eye.001.jpg 1024w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />So far scientists have tested the gene-editing technique known as CRISPR by first removing the cells from the patient’s body, editing them, and then infusing them back into the body after the work was done. Now, scientists are using CRISPR to fix a genetic defect inside a patient’s’ bod, to <a href="https://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2020/03/04/811461486/in-a-1st-scientists-use-revolutionary-gene-editing-tool-to-edit-inside-a-patient">correct a rare genetic condition</a> that can lead to blindness. The condition, known as Leber congenital amaurosis (LCA), slowly destroys cells in the retina necessary for vision.  Most people living with this condition are functionally blind. In this groundbreaking study, researchers are infusing CRISPR-carrying virus into LCA patients’ eyes. They hope that CRISPR will cut out the genetic mutation that causes LCA and restore some vision. 
<h6>UpTown Rats<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/05/ignatzmouse-e1583434687759.png" alt="" class="alignright wp-image-3679" width="300" height="284" /></h6>
Luring rats with bacon, peanut butter, and oats may not sound like a typical day in the life of a scientist, but it was a crucial first step in a <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/d41586-020-00501-x">new study</a> of rat genomes. In the study, scientists sequenced the genomes of 29 Manhattan rats. They found that particular DNA changes — in genes associated with diet, behavior, and mobility — had become more common in rats from New York City. These changes gave them a leg up in the Big Apple. As scientists start looking for genetic signatures of these so-called &#8220;selective sweeps&#8221; in rats from other cities, a word of caution. According to one exterminator, rats near Boston &#8220;prefer Dunkin&#8217; Donuts pastries and Slim Jims&#8221; over peanut butter. Just another example of rats adapting to their environment.
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<h6>A Tale of Two Sisters</h6>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Doctor-going-over-results-300x169.jpg" alt="" class="alignright wp-image-27700 size-medium" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Doctor-going-over-results-300x169.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Doctor-going-over-results-768x432.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Doctor-going-over-results-1024x576.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Doctor-going-over-results-880x495.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Doctor-going-over-results-1180x664.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/11/Doctor-going-over-results.jpg 1365w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
They are twins actually, Nancy and Nora. One lives in the UK, one in the US. Both are being treated for breast cancer. In great detail in this piece in the <a href="https://www.bmj.com/content/368/bmj.m808">British Medical Journal,</a> and in an interview with <a href="https://www.vice.com/en_us/article/akw4p5/one-twin-got-cancer-in-the-uk-the-other-got-it-in-the-us">Vice</a>, the story offers a pretty good case study on the two health systems. It’s not really a story about the quality of the actual care. The story is about the burden on patients in the US, even with good insurance, to cover costs, and negotiate with providers.

Rats, CRISPR, and Twins

By Rachael Rifkin
Identical twins Audrey Bell and Cynthia McFadden, and their younger sister Stephanie, knew that using 23andMe to explore their DNA would give them insight into their ancestry and shared genetics, but they never expected it would also unearth clues to a 75-year-old unsolved mystery.
<div id="attachment_28054" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-28054" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_1316-300x215.jpg" alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-28054" width="300" height="215" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_1316-300x215.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_1316-768x550.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_1316.jpg 844w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Twins Audrey and Cynthia, with their sister Stephanie in the middle.</div>
Audrey was the first to dive into her DNA with 23andMe. She wanted to see the DNA differences between her triplets, two are identical and the third is fraternal. But her 23andMe Ancestry Composition report surprised her because she didn’t see any Italian ancestry. It was a shock. The family’s last name is Palmadesso, so their Italian heritage was part of the sisters’ identity. They’d all grown up hearing that her dad’s family was Italian and Irish. 
It wasn’t until Cynthia got her 23andMe reports a few months ago, and opted-in to view her DNA relative connections, that the mystery started to deepen for the sisters. 
<div id="attachment_28060" style="width: 300px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-28060" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/New-York-Daily-News-Article-290x300.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-28060 size-medium" width="290" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/New-York-Daily-News-Article-290x300.jpg 290w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/New-York-Daily-News-Article.jpg 700w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 290px) 100vw, 290px" />A New York Daily News article about the kidnapping.</div>
<h6>Not Italian</h6>
Just like her sister, her report didn’t show any Italian ancestry. Instead, it showed she had Irish, Scottish and Spanish ancestry. She also matched with someone she’d never heard of, a 79-year-old man named Tommy Martin. The two share 22 percent of their DNA. That’s the same percentage Cynthia would share with a grandparent or uncle. Cynthia was so surprised by these findings that she asked Audrey to opt-in to view her DNA relative connections to see if she matched with Tommy. She did. 
The sisters had no idea who Tommy was or how they were related. 23andMe cautions customers about the possibility of <a href="https://you.23andme.com/public/unexpected-relationships">uncovering something unexpected</a>. The sister’s reports certainly fell into that category. At first, they hypothesized that their father, who passed away in 2017, was the child of an unknown affair, and that Tommy was their grandfather. Then they connected with Tommy and his half-sister Mary. As communicated back and forth with Tommy and his sister, a different and much more complicated story began to emerge.
<div id="attachment_28062" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-28062" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Jerry-and-Tommy-as-young-boys-300x300.png" alt="" class="wp-image-28062 size-medium" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Jerry-and-Tommy-as-young-boys-300x300.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Jerry-and-Tommy-as-young-boys-150x150.png 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Jerry-and-Tommy-as-young-boys-768x768.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Jerry-and-Tommy-as-young-boys-1024x1024.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Jerry-and-Tommy-as-young-boys-880x880.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Jerry-and-Tommy-as-young-boys-1180x1180.png 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Jerry-and-Tommy-as-young-boys-271x271.png 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Jerry-and-Tommy-as-young-boys-372x372.png 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Jerry-and-Tommy-as-young-boys-574x574.png 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Jerry-and-Tommy-as-young-boys-980x980.png 980w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Jerry-and-Tommy-as-young-boys.png 1600w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Photos of the brothers as young children with Tommy on the right.</div>
<h6>A Kidnapping </h6>
Audrey and Cynthia realized that based on his age, Tommy was clearly an uncle, not their grandfather. When they learned why he tested with 23andMe in the first place, the sisters were stunned. Tommy was searching for his younger brother, Gerald “Jerry” Martin, who was kidnapped in 1945.
Tommy and Mary told the twins what happened. He was six, and his brother Jerry was 4 when it happened. The brothers were riding their bikes in Manhattan when a woman approached them. She asked the boys if they wanted some candy. Both said yes. The woman told Tommy to wait while she and Jerry went to buy some. Tommy never saw Jerry again. 
<h6>Looking for Leads</h6>
Audrey, Cynthia and Stephanie wanted to learn more. They found an article on the kidnapping. At first, police suspected Tommy and Jerry’s biological mother was somehow involved. There had been lingering issues with the dissolution of her relationship with Tommy and Jerry’s father, who the children lived with. But the police determined she wasn’t involved. Apart from those early suspicions they had few leads and the trail quickly went cold.  
For years, the boy’s father, Harold, checked in with the police department to see if there was anything new about his Jerry. Detectives never found anything solid.
While 23andMe predicted that Cynthia and Audrey were Tommy’s nieces, it was unclear if the twin’s father, who they knew as Richard Rocco Palmadesso, was, in fact, Tommy’s missing brother, Jerry. The sisters suspected that he was, but couldn’t be sure.
<div id="attachment_28061" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-28061" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_6189-300x253.jpg" alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-28061" width="300" height="253" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_6189-300x253.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_6189-768x649.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_6189-1024x865.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_6189-880x743.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_6189-1180x997.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/IMG_6189.jpg 1242w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />The photos of the two brothers with Richard on the left just before he passed away in 2017, and Tommy on the right.</div>
<h6>Family History </h6>
So they turned their attention to what they knew about their father’s parents, Angelo and Isabel Palmadesso. When their dad was 12, his mom died, so Richard was sent to live with his father’s brother. As an adult, Richard didn’t keep in touch with his father, the uncle who helped raise him or his cousins, and he rarely spoke about them. He did, however, stay in touch with the woman who’d been his nanny, Helen Horgan. Later in life, Helen even lived with Richard, his wife, and the twins. She died when Audrey and Cynthia were 10.
With their father and grandparents now dead, as well as Helen, the sisters had few relatives to turn to for answers. They decided to reach out to his uncle’s son. He told the sisters that the whole family knew their dad was not a blood relative. He believed that it was only their father who didn’t know. 
<h6>Is Their Dad the Kidnapped Boy?</h6>
But there was no story of a kidnapping. Instead, the family rumor was that Helen, the nanny, was his biological mother. According to family lore, he’d been taken in because Helen was a single mother. The twins also learned that the family believed Richard’s mother was a madame, and Helen was one of her prostitutes. The family assumed the father was a local gangster who Helen dated. 
Cynthia and Audrey weren’t sure what to believe, but using 23andMe they found that they didn’t share any DNA with their Palmadesso cousins. That left them with two clear facts — they were related to Tommy, but not to the Palmadesso family. But was their dad Tommy’s kidnapped brother?
<h6>A Theory</h6>
The sisters decided to go back and create a timeline of events. They discovered that Jerry was kidnapped in June of 1945, a couple of months before the man their father Richard thought was his father returned from his service in WWII. 
The sisters hypothesized that perhaps Richard’s mother may have lost a baby or felt the need to give her husband a son, and that may have been a motive to kidnap a boy, but they don’t know. They know that Richard’s parents did not have any other children of their own together, although Richard&#8217;s mother did have an older daughter from a prior relationship. 
Perhaps Richard’s mother thought her husband would be assuaged by having a child to raise, but all that was speculation.  The sisters really didn’t know.
And there was also some evidence to suggest their theory isn’t right. For instance, they found a birth certificate for their dad. It listed his birth year as 1943, which would make him two years younger than Jerry Martin. But as the twins point out, it could be a fake birth certificate. After all, their dad’s mom wouldn’t have known how old the kidnapped child was, but the twins simply don’t have evidence to show their theory is true. 
<h6>A New Family Connection</h6>
Meanwhile, Audrey and Cynthia have been getting to know Tommy and his half-sister Mary. 
They visited Tommy in Florida around Thanksgiving and learned he loves many of the same things their dad did. They shared a love of movies, acting and coconut cake, and have similar personalities. There’s also a physical resemblance.
“Our dad was always kind, funny, and silly. Always dreamed of being an actor, but never actually acted in anything,” said Cynthia. “Uncle Tom is very similar. He even had some headshots from when he was younger.”
One unexpected outcome of their investigation is that they’ve gained more insight into the kind of person their dad was. From talking to their cousins and other people in his life who knew him when he was younger, they learned that his parents were both hard on him. He would sit at the table and his mother wouldn’t allow him to talk. Their cousin told them that their dad was quiet and anxious all the time, which is basically the way he was as an adult. 
“Although our dad was very kind and we were close to him, there was always a disconnect with him and family,” Cynthia said. “It now makes more sense why he may have been this way.”
As for Tommy and his family, the kidnapping took a toll on both his parents and Tommy. He remembered that their father cried a lot, and he never stopped believing that his son Jerry was still out there and alive. 
Rachael Rifkin’s <a href="https://www.rachaelrifkin.com/">work</a> focuses on using storytelling and similarities to bridge the gap between generations, cultures, and backgrounds. Her newsletter, <a href="https://us4.campaign-archive.com/home/?u=4f80b2efda61c68e52aec9ae6&#038;id=e0c42f4bd2">Theory of Relative-ity</a>, is about the similarities that run in families, and what we can learn from those similarities.
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Rachael Rifkin

23andMe Connection Offers Clues to a 75-year-old Mystery

Researchers at Johns Hopkins University have identified three genes associated with heart failure, a devastating condition that affects an estimated 23 million people worldwide.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/heartman-300x223.jpg" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-2759" width="300" height="223" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/heartman-300x223.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/02/heartman.jpg 350w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
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The <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14843-7">study</a>, the largest to date genome-wide association study on heart failure, also found shared genetic associations between heart failure and known heart failure risk factors such as hypertension, diabetes, and atrial fibrillation. The scientists also found strong associations with pulmonary conditions and musculoskeletal traits.

<h6>New Insight</h6>
The study offers researchers new insight into the underlying biology of heart failure, something that is still poorly understood, according to lead author Dr. Marios Arvanitis, a postdoctoral clinical and research fellow at Johns Hopkins University­ Division of Cardiology.
&nbsp;
As their heart gradually weakens, people with heart failure often end up with health problems. Those include difficulty breathing, fatigue, and swelling of the legs and abdomen. These effects often lead to other issues, and the condition is the leading cause of hospitalization in the United States. Scientists have long established that there is a genetic component to heart failure. Estimates are that the heritablity of heart failure is about 26 percent. But the biological underpinnings of why it develops is poorly understood.
<h6>Three Genes</h6>
This study identified three variants associated with the condition in three different genes. One of those genes is involved in the regulation of muscles in the heart. Two of the genetic variants are newly associated with heart failure. The third has been previously identified. The three strongest associations were in the genes PITX2, ACTN2, and ABO.
&nbsp;
To identify these genetic associations, researchers first used data from almost half a million individuals, including about 10,000 people with heart failure. This data came mainly from the UK Biobank. The researchers also pooled data from several other studies as part of a meta-analysis. After identifying the three strongest associations, the researchers then replicated their findings. They used data from more than 1.6 million 23andMe customers who consented to participate in research. The 23andMe dataset included data from more than 27,000 individuals with heart failure.
<h6>Shared Genetics</h6>
The study also looked at the shared genetics between heart failure and several other conditions. Researchers found shared genetics between heart failure and pulmonary, musculoskeletal, and gastrointestinal conditions.
&nbsp;
“This is another illustration of 23andMe’s research model,” said Adam Auton, Ph.D., 23andMe’s principal scientist in statistical genetics. “By collaborating with expert researchers outside of 23andMe, we are able to use projects such as this to advance biomedical genetic research.”
The study was published in the journal <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-020-14843-7">Nature Communications</a>.

New Genetic Associations Identified for Heart Failure

To be honest, we&#8217;re still reading a lot about the <a href="https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2020-02-27/u-s-identifies-first-coronavirus-case-without-ties-to-outbreak">coronavirus</a>. We&#8217;re nervous. But we didn&#8217;t want to risk repeating ourselves, so here are a few stories that caught our eye this week. 


<h6>Sweat, Tears &amp; Saliva<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-22305" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/teardrop-300x234.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="234" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/teardrop-300x234.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/teardrop-768x600.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/teardrop-1024x800.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/teardrop-880x687.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/03/teardrop-1180x921.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" /></h6>
Meaningful pieces of information and possibly very private information can be gathered from not only your DNA but also samples of your sweat, tears, saliva, and dental plaque. Genes &#8220;are blind to what you eat, how you exercise, how safe the place you live in is, how you unwind at the end of the day and which god you worship,&#8221; writes The Economist in a recent article.
Research is growing in the field of metabolites, or collections of molecules that you come into contact with as you go about your day. These molecules have a lot to say about your private life and behaviors. There are concerns about the lack of legal restrictions around the interpretation of metabolite patterns. These patterns could tell an employer, insurers, or the police specific details of your life, such as whether you go to church because of traces of incense on your clothes.
<h6>No Insurance, No Problem (Probably)</h6>
No health insurance means many people in the U.S. go without care. Some go south of the border to Mexico for medical treatment. Reading this guy&#8217;s <a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="https://gen.medium.com/my-journey-through-tijuana-for-the-best-surgery-2-000-can-buy-be51f1bfcffd" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">$2,000 surgery experience</a> offers a visceral testament that maybe the U.S. healthcare system still needs some fixing.
<h6>Glass Slippers</h6>
An analogy dictionary for technological terms called the <a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="https://sidewaysdictionary.com/#/about" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Sideways Dictionary</a> is our new obsession. Using Cinderella as a way to explain, <a class="_e75a791d-denali-editor-page-rtfLink" href="https://sidewaysdictionary.com/#/term/2-factor-authentication" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Two-Factor Authentication</a> answers the questions you might be embarrassed to ask your tech-savvy co-workers.

Sweat, Tears and Tijuana Doctors — What We’re Reading this Week

23andMe is boosting the way you see your family connections with a new feature. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Tree-Overview-e1582841796172-300x183.jpg" alt="" class="alignright wp-image-28065 size-medium" width="300" height="183" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Tree-Overview-e1582841796172-300x183.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Tree-Overview-e1582841796172.jpg 708w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
The feature, Family Tree, will automatically start your tree based on your list of DNA Relatives. With a new algorithm, 23andMe’s Family Tree predicts how you might be connected to your genetic relatives, so you don’t have to start from scratch.

“23andMe’s service strives to help customers explore their family ties, known and new,” said Hilary Vance, Family Tree product manager at 23andMe. “We hope our new Family Tree will make understanding your relationships easier than ever, so our customers can focus on what’s important — connecting with family.” 

<h6>Quickly see the big picture</h6>

According to a recent study conducted by 23andMe researchers, more than 50% of respondents wanted to learn more about their family history and family tree from a DNA test. Despite the high awareness and interest in family trees, very few people play an active role in developing their own tree, as 52% of respondents cited difficulty to create and not knowing where to start as the main barriers to creating one. 

With <a href="https://www.23andme.com/topics/ancestry/family-tree/">23andMe’s Family Tree</a>, users can see at a glance how family members are related to each other, with very little initial manual work.

To start your Family Tree, opt into DNA Relatives to see and be seen by your genetic relatives on 23andMe. Then, the Family Tree’s algorithm populates a tree in one go with your predicted genetic relatives, so you can get a head start figuring out whether cousins and other relatives are on your mom’s or dad’s side of the family.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/12/tree@2x-1024x354.png" alt="" class="aligncenter size-large wp-image-27798" width="1024" height="354" />
<h6>How to edit relationships and add family members</h6>

The Family Tree algorithm offers a best guess at what your family tree could look like, but it’s only a starting point.

For example, upon first look, a second cousin may be in the wrong spot by a generation. If you see an unexpected relationship on your tree, we provide resources to help you understand the available DNA evidence and edit the prediction if needed.

Using different editing tools, you can move individual people and groups of relatives elsewhere in the tree. If a relative hasn&#8217;t participated in 23andMe&#8217;s services, you can still represent them by adding information about additional relatives to your tree.

Fill in your story by adding details about your ancestors, such as a name, photo, and place of birth. You can send a message to a relative on 23andMe, who may offer you more information to fill in the gaps.

<h6>More on the way </h6>

In the coming months, customers will see improvements and updates to the Family Tree. 

&#8220;Throughout 2020, our team will be hard at work bringing new Family Tree features to make building your family story easier than ever,” Vance said.

The joy of genetic testing is that it can introduce people to new relatives. But sometimes it can be challenging to determine how, specifically, they’re related. Take some of the guessing out of building your family tree, and let 23andMe get you started. 
&nbsp;
Want to see your Family Tree? Check it out on the Family &amp; Friends page of your account, or <a href="https://store.23andme.com/en-us/cart/">buy a kit</a> to get started.
&nbsp;

23andMe’s Latest Feature Automates Genetic Family Trees

Editor&#8217;s note: This post first appeared in the Michael J. Fox Foundation <a href="https://www.michaeljfox.org/news/behind-scenes-largest-dataset-parkinsons-patient-reported-outcomes">blog</a>. We&#8217;re reposting it here to highlight the work we are doing with the MJFF and Fox Insight.
 People with Parkinson’s can experience variable symptoms over the course of the disease, have different responses to treatment, and often progress at distinct rates. <img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fox-Insight-e1509055580622-300x93.jpg" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-25820" width="300" height="93" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fox-Insight-e1509055580622-300x93.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fox-Insight-e1509055580622-768x239.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fox-Insight-e1509055580622-1024x319.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fox-Insight-e1509055580622-880x274.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/Fox-Insight-e1509055580622-1180x367.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Traditional in-person clinical studies don’t include a diverse range of patients, limiting our understanding of the disease. 
A new paper published today in <a href="https://www.nature.com/articles/s41597-020-0401-2">Scientific Data</a>, a journal from Nature Research, explains how The Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) and 23andMe are tackling this gap in understanding. 

<h6>Data Available for Researchers</h6>
The paper outlines the data being collected through Fox Insight, an online longitudinal study of people with and without Parkinson’s disease sponsored by MJFF. It’s the largest study of patient-reported outcomes in Parkinson’s, with more than 44,000 current participants and plans to recruit thousands more. Interested volunteers can learn more on the <a href="https://foxinsight.michaeljfox.org/">foxinsight.org</a>. De-identified data from Fox Insight is available to qualified researchers through the <a href="https://foxden.michaeljfox.org/insight/explore/insight.jsp">Fox DEN platform</a>.
&nbsp;
“In this new data descriptor paper, we explain what is available, how it was collected, and from whom,” said <a href="https://www.prnewswire.com/news-releases/the-michael-j-fox-foundation-launches-2020-fox-trot-5k-runwalk-series-across-the-united-states-to-raise-1-2m-for-parkinsons-disease-research-301009899.html">Luba Smolensky</a>, MJFF’s Director of Research Data and Analytics and the lead author of the study. “The patient-reported outcomes in this dataset are critical to the advancement of new Parkinson’s therapies, and we want the research community to understand and use this important resource.”
<h6>Types of Data</h6>
Fox Insight integrates three types of data: 
<ul>
<li>demographics and patient-reported outcomes from validated instruments assessed at routine intervals, </li>
<li>information from one-time surveys on Parkinson’s-related issues such as economic burden and use of complementary therapies</li>
<li>genetic data collected through collaboration with 23andMe. </li>
</ul>
&nbsp;
Both the content and timing of questionnaires are dependent on participant self-reported diagnosis. Fox Insight was also designed to support adjustments to multi-modal data collection as Parkinson’s research evolves. 
&nbsp;
23andMe researchers see the potential that this rich collection of data offers to better understand the factors that influence Parkinson’s disease progression among different patients, and, in turn, drive insight into new disease-modifying therapies.  
&nbsp;
“The data offers new opportunities to gain important insights into Parkinson’s disease,” said 23andMe’s Parkinson’s disease program manager, Paul Cannon, Ph.D. “Because MJFF is making this data available to other qualified researchers through the Fox Den platform, it enables the research community  to accelerate the pace of this important research and better understand the unique patient experience, and that is at the core of our mission.”
The goal of Fox Insight is to provide Parkinson’s researchers with a rich dataset combining patient experiences with genetic risks and modifiers that can be used for discovery, validation, and reproducibility. Qualified researchers are invited to explore and analyze the data through the study’s data platform, <a href="https://foxden.michaeljfox.org.">Fox DEN</a>.

Behind-the-Scenes of the Largest Dataset of Parkinson’s Patient-Reported Outcomes 

This past week we&#8217;re continuing to read about the response to the coronavirus, and the efforts to develop a vaccine. But that intense focus hasn&#8217;t been to the exclusion of other interesting articles in our reading list this week. So here is what we&#8217;re reading.
<h2>Wash Your Hands</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-28040" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/CDC-Image-of-Coronavirus-300x168.png" alt="" width="300" height="168" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/CDC-Image-of-Coronavirus-300x168.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/CDC-Image-of-Coronavirus.png 512w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />More on the <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/world/asia/china-coronavirus-contain.html?action=click&amp;pgtype=Article&amp;state=default&amp;module=styln-coronavirus&amp;variant=show&amp;region=TOP_BANNER&amp;context=storyline_menu">coronavirus</a> — estimates are that China has now imposed travel restrictions on more than <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/18/world/asia/china-coronavirus.html?action=click&amp;module=Top%20Stories&amp;pgtype=Homepage">10 percent of its population</a>! The outbreak has sharpened our focus on the public health response, as well as the need for rapid research required to create an effective vaccine. In the meantime, we are all becoming a little more diligent about things like washing your hands. On that note, here&#8217;s an illustration of the most often missed areas when washing your hands.
<h2>Glass Houses</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-28039" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Real-Life-Book-Image-191x300.jpg" alt="" width="191" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Real-Life-Book-Image-191x300.jpg 191w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Real-Life-Book-Image.jpg 318w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 191px) 100vw, 191px" />We often believe that working in the sciences is somehow more progressive than working in other fields. Still, Brandon Taylor&#8217;s book Real Life offers <a href="https://www.buzzfeednews.com/article/brandontaylor/i-dont-miss-being-a-scientist-except-when-i-do">a different point of view</a>. As a gay black man, he often felt isolated, silenced and marginalized. &#8220;Science was the constant humiliation of wondering if I had justified my presence,&#8221; Tayor writes in this Buzzfeed piece. He wondered if he had &#8220;made it harder for the next black person to get admitted.&#8221; Ultimately it&#8217;s what drove him from the field.
<h2>The Food We Eat</h2>
We eat <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/food/2020/feb/13/how-ultra-processed-food-took-over-your-shopping-basket-brazil-carlos-monteiro">a lot of junk</a>, and that may explain why we&#8217;re getting so fat. We&#8217;re not just consuming processed food loaded with sugar, salt, and fat, but what are called &#8220;ultra-processed foods.&#8221; These are &#8220;foods&#8221; are what the Guardian calls &#8220;concoctions of concoctions&#8221; that resemble food. According to this Guardian story, now more than half the calories consumed in the United States and the UK are made up of these ultra-processed foods. Makes us think that <a href="https://michaelpollan.com/books/">Michael Pollan&#8217;s</a> diet advice, &#8220;Eat food, not too much, mostly plants.&#8221; And when he says &#8220;food&#8221; he means real food, not processed stuff.
<h2>Heavy</h2>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-28041" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Tommy-Tomlinsons-Book-197x300.png" alt="" width="197" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Tommy-Tomlinsons-Book-197x300.png 197w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Tommy-Tomlinsons-Book-768x1169.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Tommy-Tomlinsons-Book-673x1024.png 673w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Tommy-Tomlinsons-Book-578x880.png 578w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Tommy-Tomlinsons-Book-775x1180.png 775w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/Tommy-Tomlinsons-Book.png 800w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 197px) 100vw, 197px" />It would all be so simple if we ate less and made better food choices, but it&#8217;s not so simple. There&#8217;s much more involved in what drives people to eat the way they do. We wish more people had read Tommy Tomlinson&#8217;s 2019 book, &#8220;<a href="https://www.simonandschuster.com/books/The-Elephant-in-the-Room/Tommy-Tomlinson/9781501111617">The Elephant in the Room, One Fat Man&#8217;s Quest to Get Smaller in a Growing America</a>.&#8221; A great writer and one-time finalist for a Pulitzer Prize, Tomlinson brings his story and a lot of humanity to the struggles of people trying to lose weight and improve their health. Helping people to make those changes requires a more profound understanding, or we&#8217;ll never deal with the looming obesity crisis. &#8220;What I want you to understand, more than anything else, is that telling a fat person to &#8216;eat less and exercise&#8217; is like telling a boxer, &#8220;Don&#8217;t get hit,&#8221; Tomlinson writes. Understanding the emotional and psychological hurdles people often need to clear before taking the actions they already know they need to take to be healthy is essential. Tomlinson&#8217;s writing brings that home, just as he vividly describes his weight&#8217;s toll on his body. Read his book, now in paperback, or at least read the piece he wrote last year for the <a href="https://www.theatlantic.com/health/archive/2019/01/weight-loss-essay-tomlinson/579832/">Atlantic</a>.
<h2></h2>
<h2>Ghost in the Machine</h2>
More good stuff on <a href="https://www.discovermagazine.com/planet-earth/genetic-traces-of-mysterious-human-lineage-detected-in-people-living-in">Ghost DNA</a> finding but no name for this ancient human cousin until we get the bones. Scientists found <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2020/02/12/science/west-africa-ancient-humans.html">evidence of these ancient human cousins</a> in the DNA of modern living humans in West Africa. What we are learning is that it wasn&#8217;t just <a href="https://www.the-scientist.com/features/neanderthal-dna-in-modern-human-genomes-is-not-silent-66299">Neanderthals, </a>or <a href="https://www.sciencemag.org/news/2019/09/ancient-dna-puts-face-mysterious-denisovans-extinct-cousins-neanderthals">Denisovans</a>, or even <a href="https://www.nationalgeographic.com/science/2018/08/news-homo-floresiensis-hobbit-genetics-dna-pygmy-flores-island/">Hobbits</a>, that interbred with early modern humans. Our ancestors were also mixing with other as <a href="https://theconversation.com/early-humans-in-africa-may-have-interbred-with-a-mysterious-extinct-species-new-research-131699">yet unidentified ancient human cousins</a>.

Junk Food, Viruses, and Ghosts — What We’re Reading This Week

By David Silverberg
During Christmas three years ago, when Doug Clarke and his wife exchanged 23andMe DNA kits as gifts, he had no clue his life would be irrevocably changed.
<div id="attachment_27957" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27957" class="size-medium wp-image-27957" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/PatriciaDoug-e1580924652355-300x231.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="231" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/PatriciaDoug-e1580924652355-300x231.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2020/02/PatriciaDoug-e1580924652355.jpg 666w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Doug and Patricia after meeting in Santa Cruz for the first time.</div>
The 54-year-old Lexington, Kentucky resident always long known he’d been adopted and he wasn’t searching for his birth parents. Rather, he took the <a href="https://www.23andme.com/en-ca/howitworks/">23andMe test</a> to find out if he was at risk for certain health conditions.
But when the results revealed that a relative lived in New York, Doug reached out to him and found out this man was his cousin. Doug’s newfound cousin told him, “My aunt, Patricia, is your mother.”

<h2>A New Family Relationship</h2>
Within weeks, Doug was on a plane to Santa Cruz where his birth mother lived. It had been a tough year for Doug: he lost his father months before taking the DNA test, and the two had been very close growing up.
“To find my birth mother helped ease that sting of losing the father who raised me,” Clarke said in an interview.
Meeting his birth mother at a lighthouse near Santa Cruz proved to be the catalyst for a new relationship he never thought he would find.
“There’s literally no way I would have met my mother without 23andMe,” Doug said.
Patricia and Doug joined 23andMe for a special Mother&#8217;s Day event in 2018 where we chronicled their story in a <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XaGUyrlp9ac">video</a>: 
<iframe loading="lazy" src="https://www.youtube.com/embed/XaGUyrlp9ac" width="966" height="543" frameborder="0" allowfullscreen="allowfullscreen"></iframe>
<h2>Spending Time</h2>
But it’s the relationship that the two have formed since that initial meeting, that has been the true gift. Their story of building a bond that has only grown since that first meeting is something they both have worked at nurturing. Now they talk every week on Sundays and spend holidays together. They have merged their two families allowing them to gradually become acquainted.
It’s been a blessing for Patricia Johnson, Doug’s birth mother. For years she felt shame and guilt for giving her son up for adoption.
“I always wondered if my baby was going to be OK, if he was doing well,” Patricia, 79, said. “But now that I know him and have seen what a great man he’s become, I no longer feel that guilt.”
In fact, Doug has been there for her during unfortunate mishaps, like when she suffered a fall and endured a compression fracture in her spine in December 2019.
“And who was there to take care of me after the long plane ride from Kentucky? My son,” she said. “He did my laundry, cooked for me, and applied those IcyHot patches on my back.”
Patricia saw a lot of similarities between the two even at that initial meeting.
“Our eyes are the same for sure, and we make the same hand gestures,” she said. “Even our likes and dislikes with food and music are the same!”
<h2>What New DNA Relatives Should Expect</h2>
It’s not just Doug she’s bonded with but his family too.  Patricia is gradually getting to know Doug’s wife Lisa, his daughter-in-law, his sister, nephew, and brother-in-law. For his part, Doug is in touch with his half-sister and cousins, aunts and uncles from Patricia’s side of the family.
Doug cautioned that adoptees should temper their expectations if they reconnect with their birth parents via 23andMe or other methods.
“Don’t think the heavens will open and angels will start singing and you’ll have the perfect relationship,” he said. “Just go into it with an open mind. And if you don’t go through with it because you’re scared, you might have missed out on an opportunity of a lifetime.”
Patricia is often quick to share her story of reuniting with her long-lost son, so much so she even inspired someone randomly.
When her WiFi connection malfunctioned, a technician came into her home to fix it. The two began talking and Patricia said she:
“Got all blubbery and told him about Doug and what happened and what this DNA test gave me. He told me he is also adopted and just as he was walking out the door he said ‘I think I’m going try 23andmMe and look for my parents.’ And I said, ‘Honey, do it! It’s worth every cent you have!’”
David Silverberg is a freelance journalist and content creator who regularly contributes to BBC News, The Washington Post, Business Insider, and Gamespot. He is also a theatre artist and wrote about his Jewish heritage in his new solo show Jewnique. Find him at<a href="http://davidsilverberg.ca"> DavidSilverberg.ca</a>

Latest Posts — Page 61