Last year, 23 filmmakers set off to document perhaps the most important journeys of all, those of self-discovery, and this week these personal journeys are unveiled as part of “Identity,” a series of short films commissioned by 23andMe in association with Tribeca Studios.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-27038" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Tribeca-23andMe-Static-1080x1080-300x300.png" alt="" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Tribeca-23andMe-Static-1080x1080-300x300.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Tribeca-23andMe-Static-1080x1080-150x150.png 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Tribeca-23andMe-Static-1080x1080-768x768.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Tribeca-23andMe-Static-1080x1080-1024x1024.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Tribeca-23andMe-Static-1080x1080-880x880.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Tribeca-23andMe-Static-1080x1080-271x271.png 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Tribeca-23andMe-Static-1080x1080-372x372.png 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Tribeca-23andMe-Static-1080x1080-574x574.png 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Tribeca-23andMe-Static-1080x1080-980x980.png 980w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Tribeca-23andMe-Static-1080x1080.png 1080w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
The films that debuted during this year’s Tribeca Film Festival are each as unique as the artists who created them. Many are the filmmakers’ own stories. Some are the stories of others captured by the documentarians, but each is personal and powerful. Within the 23 films, the subjects explore how DNA can have a major impact on their lives, families, and identities.
Millions of people have taken their own inward journey of discovery using DNA testing, and almost every day, we hear compelling stories from our customers. “These twenty-three filmmakers explore wonderful moments of humanity and illuminate how personal each of our DNA journeys can be,” said Tracy Keim, our Vice President for Consumer Marketing.
“The storytelling in each film brings to life the diversity of thought while also touching on some real emotions,” Tracy said. “We hope these films allow people to experience the human side of science.”
<iframe loading="lazy" title="IDENTITY | Official Trailer | Tribeca Studios x 23andMe" src="https://player.vimeo.com/video/331118282?dnt=1&amp;app_id=122963" width="500" height="281" frameborder="0" allow="autoplay; fullscreen; picture-in-picture; clipboard-write"></iframe>
The films in the “Identity” series range from stories about finding a lost family to confronting new truths or revealing lost cultural connections. More than half of the filmmakers are women, and others offer unique cultural points of view, bringing a diversity of perspectives to the series. There are films fraught with emotion, others with touches of humor, and some filled with whimsy.
<div id="attachment_27046" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27046" class="size-medium wp-image-27046" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190425_Tribeca_23andMe_Screening-361-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190425_Tribeca_23andMe_Screening-361-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190425_Tribeca_23andMe_Screening-361-768x512.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190425_Tribeca_23andMe_Screening-361-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190425_Tribeca_23andMe_Screening-361-880x587.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190425_Tribeca_23andMe_Screening-361-1180x787.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Of the 23 filmmakers who were part of the series 21 were able to attend the festival.</div>
To launch the series, 23andMe and Tribeca Studios hosted a panel with a select group of filmmakers during the Tribeca Film Festival this week hosted by Dyllan McGee, two-time Emmy award-winning filmmaker and founder of<a href="https://www.mcgeemedia.com/makers-conf"> MAKERS</a>. Among the filmmakers on the panel were:
<ul>
<li>Apolla Echino, who in her film The DNA Adventure, documents her return to Canada to uncover her indigenous roots</li>
<li>Emily Abt and her film Born a Fighter about Alan Joyce, a jiu-jitsu fighter coming to terms with his history and embracing his mixed-race family</li>
<li>Anayansi Prado, director of the film What Are You? which confronts racism in Latin America</li>
<li>Tani Ikeda and her film Katey + Amanda, is about Korean twins separated and adopted by families in the United States as infants who found each other three decades later</li>
<li>Kristen Lazure, producer, stood in for filmmaker Stephanie Soechtig, to discuss their film Who is My Grandfather?, which documents one man’s search for his grandfather</li>
</ul>
<div id="attachment_27045" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27045" class="wp-image-27045 size-medium" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190425_Tribeca_23andMe_Screening-317-300x200.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="200" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190425_Tribeca_23andMe_Screening-317-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190425_Tribeca_23andMe_Screening-317-768x512.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190425_Tribeca_23andMe_Screening-317-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190425_Tribeca_23andMe_Screening-317-880x587.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/20190425_Tribeca_23andMe_Screening-317-1180x787.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Tribeca Film Festival 2019 23andMe Identity series panel discussion.</div>
These five films scratch the surface of what is featured in the “Identity” film series. Among the rest of the series is Chromosome 19, Sarah Lamm&#8217;s bold documentary about a white woman finding her African American cousin and then exploring what their connections mean together. There&#8217;s the film Fifty Fifty about Richard Bodager, finding his birth mother and meeting her for the first time. Then, there is Shal Ngo’s stream of conscious film, Hapa, in which he untangles what it means to be rooted in Vietnam and Minnesota.
Each of these films is unique and special, and they drive to the core of how we define ourselves and our identities.
To see all the films, please visit our Vimeo page.

23andMe Blog

23andMe Blog Team

23andMe and Tribeca Studios Premiere Film Series

By Brittany Natale
<div id="attachment_27015" style="width: 289px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27015" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Dad-Cindy-Mindy-e1555520280386-279x300.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-27015 size-medium" width="279" height="300" />Cindy, Marvin and Mindy.</div>
A genetic journey can be both exhilarating and rewarding. You may uncover once unknown relatives, rich with stories that add more color to your family history. But you may not expect that delving deeper into your DNA could also help to reunite childhood friends. Yet for two middle-aged women, their DNA exploration not only connected them with new family, but also helped them connect two old friends. 
Cindy and Mindy live in separate states hundreds of miles apart and were drawn to <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-health-ancestry/">23andMe</a> for different reasons. However, they quickly learned they had much more in common then they’d ever expected – Cindy and Mindy discovered that they are half-sisters.
“Mindy had only been on 23andMe for one month and I for two months when this all took place,” said Cindy, “It was surely meant to be.” 
<h6>A Day Like Any Other </h6>
Cindy, who lives in Sandborn, Indiana, kept hitting brick walls while searching for information about her father, John. He had divorced her mother when Cindy was just a child, and died young. She wanted to learn a bit more about him.
When she turned to DNA testing, Cindy discovered something that was at first puzzling. Although she had grown up thinking John was in fact her birth father, his family DNA matched with her older sister’s but not her own. Curious and determined to find out why, she used <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/#toc-family">23andMe&#8217;s DNA Relatives</a> tool to help solve this family mystery. What she discovered, however, was something she was not expecting. 
“I forgot about [23andMe] for a month or so, then I got back on and realized that I had the settings set on private,” shares Cindy, “I changed my settings to public and within hours I got a match that read, ‘this person is your half sister’. I was shocked”.
That person was Mindy, who lives more than 700 miles away in Norfolk, Virginia. And around the same time Cindy made her jaw-dropping discovery, Mindy was also getting the surprise of her life. 
“My son and I had been on the site for only a month,” says Mindy, “One Friday I came into work and turned on my computer and saw that I got a message on 23andMe [from Cindy] that read, ‘Imagine my surprise when I got a message from 23andMe that said that you are my half sister’. I must have responded to her email immediately.” 
<h6>The Story</h6>
It took a little while to figure out how these two strangers were in fact sisters.
Excitedly conversing via email, the two traded details on their family. They each also talked separately with family members, and together they were able to sketch out the story.
It turns out Cindy’s mother, Charlotte, had briefly dated a man named Marvin, Mindy’s father. 
The two got together while Charlotte was separated from her husband John. But after the ever so brief affair ended, Charlotte got back together with John. Soon after she found out she was pregnant with Cindy, her third child. They always just assumed Cindy was John’s daughter. 
The couple stayed together another five years, before ultimately divorcing. Cindy said she never knew whether her mother had any inkling that she might not be John’s child. 
Charlotte eventually remarried, and moved with her family out of state from Michigan to Indiana. In 1963, not long after the divorce John passed away – he was just 30. Cindy doesn’t know if he ever suspected that she wasn’t his child. However, a letter sent by John’s mother that Cindy found later in life hints that his family may have had their suspicions.
More than 50 years later, in her quest to learn more about her father, Cindy discovered that her birth father was alive and well and living in Florida. After connecting with Mindy, she connected with her birth father, Marvin, and they were able to use 23andMe to confirm that she indeed was his daughter. 
However, the story does not end here.
<h6>Way Back When</h6>
Cindy and Mindy’s story is wonderful and special in many ways, but it has one more twist that takes it to another level.
<div id="attachment_27014" style="width: 304px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27014" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/IMG_4628-294x300.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-27014 size-medium" width="294" height="300" />Marvin, on the left, and Ralph &#8220;Corky.&#8221;</div>
Remember Cindy’s mom, Charlotte, who remarried after divorcing John? Her second husband, Ralph, also adopted her children, Cindy included. The twist in this story is that Ralph was once close friends with Marvin. Or to put this another way, Ralph had unknowingly raised the child of one of his closest friends from his youth: Marvin, a guy he affectionately nicknamed, Corky. 
This was way back in the early 1950’s, when Nat King Cole, Bing Crosby, and Patti Page dominated the radio airwaves. As the country began revving up to fight in the Korean War, Ralph and Marvin, two close childhood friends, decided to enlist in the U.S. Air Force. 
“I went into service in late 1949,” said Ralph, “and Corky came into the service a couple of months after I did.” 
Even though they enlisted a few months apart, they lucked out and ended up serving together.
“Instead of going to Korea, I got sent to McGhee-Tyson Radar Unit in Tennessee, and Ralph was there,” Marvin said. “I walked into the hotel, it was the Fort Crane Hotel, and I said, ‘Do you have a Ralph Boyer here?’ and they said ‘Yes’, so I went knocking on his door and he couldn’t believe it. He just looked at me and said, ‘What are you doing here!?’” 
The two, who were friends since grade school in Michigan, were tasked with guarding a site where atomic bombs were made. When they both got out of the service the two young men, still just in their early 20s, remained close friends. 
“When we got out of the service we double dated for awhile,” said Marvin, “I guess that is the genesis of when this whole thing started.” 
Marvin dated Cindy’s mother, Charlotte, while Ralph dated one of her girlfriends. 
“We were really close,” said Ralph, “He was my best buddy, so that’s the way it was.” 
<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 300px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">
What&#8217;s Your Story?

Like our DNA, our stories connect us. They can also inspire, entertain and empower us. Thousands of 23andMe customers have already shared their stories with us. We hope you will choose to share yours.
Whether it’s about finding a long-lost relative, gaining insights into your health, or simply recounting the fun you’ve had while exploring your DNA, we want to hear your story. We may even want to feature it on our website or in a television commercial.
You can see some of our favorite customer stories <a href="https://www.23andme.com/stories/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.
<a href="https://www.23andme.com/stories/#form" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tell us your story!</a>
</div>
However, as the 1960’s came to a close, the two fell out of touch, and it was Ralph who eventually married Charlotte. They moved out of state to Indiana. Marvin wed another one of their childhood friends and started a family of his own, three sons and a daughter, in Michigan. Ralph was even the best man at Marvin’s wedding. 
“I hadn’t been in touch with Corky since 1970,” said Ralph, “so it had been many years since I had seen or even heard from him”. 
<h6>Reuniting and Connecting</h6>
After Mindy and Cindy connected, they wanted to make sure that Ralph and Marvin also got the opportunity to reconnect.
When the group finally got together for the first time this past January in Florida, the place where Marvin and his wife now call home, they clicked instantly. Old stories and memories were recalled, each person finding out more about each other and making up for lost time: Mindy and Cindy spoke of the uncanny coincidences they share, such as how they have rhyming names, and both have a granddaughter named Violet. While the two sisters finally got to speak in person and cultivate their kindred connection, Ralph and Marvin reminisced about their childhood and time in the service. They even recreated the photos they took some 50 years ago while stationed at their military base. 
Each had a memorable experience – a friendship was reunited after nearly half a century, and two siblings were brought together after a lifetime apart. 
“The odds against all of this happening are astronomical,” said Cindy, “ I survived cancer. I happened to get on 23andMe. Marvin will be 87 in April, my dad [Ralph] is already 87. That they are even alive to tell this story, and complete this story, is amazing”. 
Mindy, Cindy, and their fathers all stay in touch and talk often. This summer, they are planning to reconvene at a larger family reunion down in Asheville , North Carolina. It will be here that Cindy will finally get to meet her extended relatives and learn more about the family that, until recently, she never knew she had. 
“It is strange how it all worked out,” said Marvin, “but my daughter, Mindy, has always said she wanted a sister, so now she finally has one!” 
<hr />
Brittany Natale is a freelance writer living in New York City. Her work has appeared in publications such as i-D, Teen Vogue, The Village Voice, Nylon, Domino, L&#8217;Officiel, and AnOther.
&nbsp;

Mindy and Cindy’s 23andMe Story

Guillaume’s dad once referred to him in a poem as “my son of three fathers,” but he should have written: “My son of three fathers and three mothers.”
<div id="attachment_26997" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26997" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-Bordier-300x214.png" alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-26997" width="300" height="214" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-Bordier-300x214.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-Bordier.png 512w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Guillaume Bordier</div>
His parents adopted him during the final years of the war in Vietnam. After they divorced, he added a stepdad and stepmom to his family. But Guillaume also had an unknown third father and mother. All he knew was that his birth father was likely an African American serviceman, and his birth mom was Vietnamese.
Raised in France, Guillaume was the only dark-skinned boy in his school. He went on to become a virtuoso ballet dancer and choreographer but always wrestled with his identity and a desire to know more about his origins.
“Because of my physical characteristics, I knew that I was part Vietnamese and part African-American,” Guillaume said. “But I knew nothing else.”
<h6>Searching</h6>
Although Guillaume’s father once said, his son’s “eyes reflect the light of every corner of the world,” Guillaume did not feel connected in that way.
“I always wondered who I was, and what my real origins were,” he said. “And as an adopted child, no matter what we say, we are always looking for our roots.”
Opening up his 23andMe Ancestry Composition results for the first time, with it’s mosaic of colors representing the global regions from which his DNA originated, gave Guillaume another tangible representation of who he was and where he was from. And it opened up a door into the mysteries of his origins.
His arresting story of discovery, documented in a film directed by Jésus Castro-Ortega called &#8220;<a href="http://www.andanafilms.com/catalogueFiche.php?idFiche=1254&#038;rub=Nouveaut%C3%A9">In Balance</a>,&#8221; was first shown last summer on French National television. An English-subtitled version, distributed by Andana Films in the US, is now streaming on Amazon Prime and<a href="https://link.tubi.tv/0oiLXvgRMV"> Tubi</a>.
The opening scenes of the film include Guillaume seeing his 23andMe results for the first time.
“It changed the course of my life,” he said.
<h6>The Wolf Cub</h6>
The French couple who’d adopted Guillaume Bordier worried that he might not survive.
<div id="attachment_26998" style="width: 232px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26998" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-at-Orphanage-222x300.png" alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-26998" width="222" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-at-Orphanage-222x300.png 222w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-at-Orphanage.png 379w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 222px) 100vw, 222px" />Photo of Guillaume at a Vietnamese orphanage before his adoption.</div>
Malnourished, the 14-month-old weighed just 14 pounds and was in wretched physical condition. Sickly and slight for his age, his mother nursed him back to health. The young Guillaume was like an “abandoned wolf cub,” she once said.
At first, Guillaume, who would go on to become a powerful, and graceful ballet dancer, struggled just to walk. He didn’t take his first steps until he was two-and-a-half. Beyond those physical obstacles, Guillaume had to overcome the challenges put in front of him due to the color of his skin.
“Ballet dancing was, in France at that time, a solely white universe,” he said.
Yet dance was everything to him.
“I could have been someone who is violent,” Guillaume said. “But dance saved me. It was my therapy for every situation.”
His father at one point forbade him from dancing saying ballet is “not for boys.” So Guillaume would draw elaborate storyboards of the dances he had already memorized, complete with the positioning of every dancer, their names, and, of course, his role in the production.
That early obsession became his profession as Guillaume went on to dance in New York and Paris. Over time he added choreographer to his job title. But in the last few years, as Guillaume neared 50, the questions around his origins became more persistent. He often thought of where he’d come from, about the war, and what it must have been like for his birth mother to give him up.
<div id="attachment_26999" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26999" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-and-His-Mother-300x300.png" alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-26999" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-and-His-Mother-300x300.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-and-His-Mother-150x150.png 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-and-His-Mother-271x271.png 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-and-His-Mother-372x372.png 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-and-His-Mother.png 449w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Guillaume and his mother in France.</div>
In dreams he imagined that moment and what she might have said as she left her baby:
“’You will grow up not knowing your mother and father,’” he imagined her saying to him. “’You will keep wondering if we’re dead or alive. My son I won’t be there but here is your life.’”
<h6>My Brother?</h6>
Both nervous and excited Guillaume and his partner, Francois, sat down one night in 2016 to look at his 23andMe results for the first time. Anxious he didn’t know what to expect.
“Ever since I learned you could use DNA testing to find your origins I’ve wanted to do it,” Guillaume said.
His first reaction to the results was awe. 
“Incredible,” he said when he saw the colorful wheel representing the regions to which his DNA connected him.
<div id="attachment_27000" style="width: 302px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27000" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaumes-AC-292x300.png" alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-27000" width="292" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaumes-AC-292x300.png 292w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaumes-AC.png 394w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 292px) 100vw, 292px" />Guillaume&#8217;s Ancestry Composition includes the rich mix of his African American and Vietnamese roots.</div>
Guillaume saw the large chunk of West Africa ancestry he inherited from his African American birth father, who also passed on to him a small but significant amount of European ancestry. He was surprised to learn that along with his Vietnamese ancestry from his birth mother he inherited a large amount of Chinese and Chinese Dai ancestry. The African and European half of his ancestry came from his father, and the Vietnamese and Chinese came from his mother.
“So I’m half American,” he said at one point after absorbing it all.
But it was when he looked at his <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">DNA Relatives</a> that he stopped short. At the top was a connection to a man he’d never met but with whom he shares about a quarter of his DNA.
“My brother,” he said and then corrected himself. “My half brother. This is so intense…Can you imagine?”
<h6>Back Into the Matrix</h6>
Guillaume marveled at the odds of finding his brother, Joe.
<div style="float: right; text-align: justified; width: 300px; background-color: #eee; padding: 15px; margin-left: 10px;">
What&#8217;s Your Story?

Like our DNA, our stories connect us. They can also inspire, entertain and empower us. Thousands of 23andMe customers have already shared their stories with us. We hope you will choose to share yours.
Whether it’s about finding a long-lost relative, gaining insights into your health, or simply recounting the fun you’ve had while exploring your DNA, we want to hear your story. We may even want to feature it on our website or in a television commercial.
You can see some of our favorite customer stories <a href="https://www.23andme.com/stories/" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">here</a>.
<a href="https://www.23andme.com/stories/#form" rel="noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Tell us your story!</a>
</div>
Joe was also born in Vietnam, but almost four years after Guillaume. He’d also been given up after birth, but in his case, he’d been raised by an elderly woman in his village. When he turned 18, he was able to come to the United States.
Guillaume and Joe finally connected via email and then talked on the phone. Joe, who now lives in Tennessee with his family, was able to tell Guillaume that he has at least seven siblings who are all from the same mother. 
Most striking of all for Guillaume was that their mother was still alive, and had fled Vietnam to live in the United States. Joe could in turn introduce Guillaume to their mother, as well as a half-sister who both live in New Orleans.
Not long after that, he connected with her for the first time in an emotional video chat. At one point he broke down crying trying to explain to her what he is feeling.
“Mom, mom,” he said. “I’ve been searching for you all my life mom.”
A few months later, Guillaume comes to the US for a visit and drives with Joe to visit with their mother. In the days leading up the meeting, Guillaume felt he was living in an altered reality. He couldn’t sleep; he couldn’t help but go back over his life, thinking about everything, almost reviewing his existence in rewind.
“I’m starting over, going back into the matrix,” he said.
<h6>Like a Hurricane</h6>
Nothing is completely clear — the sequence of events, the names, and places — but sitting with his birth mother after their first emotional meeting Guillaume begins to get the first sketchy details of his origins. She spoke in broken English and sometimes in Vietnamese that was translated by her daughter, and Guillaume’s half-sister, Phung.
Their mother worked in the laundry near Camp Tien Sha, a Naval base in Danang that housed a battalion of Marines. Guillaume’s father was a young Marine.
<div id="attachment_27001" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27001" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-Birth-Mom-300x284.png" alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-27001" width="300" height="284" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-Birth-Mom-300x284.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-Birth-Mom-768x726.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-Birth-Mom-1024x968.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-Birth-Mom-880x832.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-Birth-Mom-1180x1116.png 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-Birth-Mom.png 1438w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />Guillaume and his birth mother after meeting for the first time.</div>
They had started as friends but soon turned into something more. They were together for a few months in 1968 and 1969, she said.
“He looked like you,” she told Guillaume, adding that his skin was lighter like his, and that, “everybody loved him.”
Sometimes he would stay with her, she told him. Sometimes he’d be gone on missions for many days or weeks, and she would not see him. Then one day she was told he died in combat. She was devastated. She soon discovered she was pregnant.
Some of those details were comforting to hear, but Guillaume also had so many more questions.
What was his name? She wasn’t sure, John or James perhaps. She didn’t know his rank or his age. She wasn’t sure the date of his death or where.
She told Guillaume that after she’d heard the news, she became distraught and later became ill. When Guillaume was born both she and the new baby were sick, and they both began losing weight, she told him. At some point, she left him with a family that she trusted to care for him so that she could work in Saigon. When she returned they were gone, and unbeknownst to her had taken Guillaume to an orphanage.
That detail was important for Guillaume because he believed it meant she’d never abandoned him. She’d told him that she’d gone back and searched for him. She’d bike the countryside looking. His sister, Phung said that their mother never stopped thinking about him.
“You have to understand that Vietnamese people cherish boys,” she said.
Their mother had never stopped praying that she’d find him, and then like a miracle, he finds her.
It’s all a bit overwhelming and unbelievable. Guillaume didn&#8217;t just find his mother, but seven siblings.
“It’s like a hurricane in the brain,” he said. “An emotional (hurricane) Katrina. I didn’t expect that.”
<h6>I Think I Am Your Son</h6>
You can’t answer five decades of questions in one week, Guillaume said.
When he returned to France Guillaume shared photos of his trip with his adopted mother.
His mom immediately felt sympathy toward the woman who gave him up so long ago.
“This must have reminded her of a lot of things she wanted to forget,” Guillaume’s mother told him. “She must have thought you were dead. Can you imagine? She is very strong.”
But as the weeks and months went on after his visit, more questions emerged. Was his father really dead?
<div id="attachment_27004" style="width: 224px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-27004" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-3-214x300.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-27004 size-medium" width="214" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-3-214x300.jpg 214w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-3-768x1076.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-3-731x1024.jpg 731w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-3-628x880.jpg 628w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-3-843x1180.jpg 843w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/04/Guillaume-3-scaled.jpg 1828w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 214px) 100vw, 214px" />Guillaume is still search, trying to find the identity of his birth father.</div>
“I can’t be certain,” he said. 
Months after his visit he found another half-sister living in Texas, but closer to him in age. They met in person in the summer of 2018.
Guillaume found a few second and third cousins on his birth father’s side, but so far no insights into his birth father’s name or whether he died in Vietnam or not. He found the name of a young African American Marine, James Albert Sanders, who’d been killed in combat in May of 1969, and left a note on the Vietnam Veterans Memorial Fund “Wall of Faces.”
“Maybe you are my father,” Guillaume wrote. “If you are my father, I want you to know that I always looked for you. If you are my father, let me tell you that I am very, very proud to be your son … I became not a soldier but a soloist ballet dancer &#8230; If you are my father, let me tell you that I miss you so much and I love you with all my heart.”
&nbsp;

Guillaume’s Search

Many African Americans can relate to the years of frustration Paul Mosley had trying to track back his family history.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Paul-Mosley-e1549909372876-300x245.jpg" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-26653" width="300" height="245" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Paul-Mosley-e1549909372876-300x245.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Paul-Mosley-e1549909372876-768x628.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Paul-Mosley-e1549909372876-1024x838.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Paul-Mosley-e1549909372876-880x720.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Paul-Mosley-e1549909372876-1180x965.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/10/Paul-Mosley-e1549909372876.jpg 1809w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />

For Paul, there was always a certain point where the trail ended. Like many African Americans, Paul’s search came up empty.

The U.S.&#8217;s history of slavery severed his connections to the past. Instead of being able to find ancestors’ names in old birth and death records, or Census records, many African Americans must resort to combing through slaveholder property records, or slave auction logs. Even rarer, are those records or even oral histories to give people like Paul a way to trace their family ties back to Africa.

“I became angry every time I would see someone saying their family tree traced back to Ireland, Italy or some other country, and I couldn’t find my family because of slavery,” he said.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Pauls-AC-300x263.png" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-26881" width="300" height="263" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Pauls-AC-300x263.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Pauls-AC-768x673.png 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Pauls-AC-1024x897.png 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Pauls-AC-880x771.png 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Pauls-AC.png 1032w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />

Using paper records, Paul had been able to trace his ancestry to about 1870, but he couldn’t go back any further. So after he received 23andMe as a gift, he eagerly awaited for what he might learn through DNA. While he knows his ancestors were forcibly brought here from Africa because of slavery, he’s always wanted to know more about his family’s origins.

That first step in learning more came when he opened up his <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/#toc-ancestry-composition">23andMe Ancestry Composition</a> report.

<h6>West Africa</h6>
“I logged in, and the tears started to well up in my eyes because my results showed that almost 90 percent of my ancestors traced to West Africa and the shores of the Transatlantic Slave Trade,” Paul said.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Pauls-Breakdown-300x205.png" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-26884" width="300" height="205" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Pauls-Breakdown-300x205.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/02/Pauls-Breakdown.png 539w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
His results showed that he was 91 percent Sub-Saharan African, and his DNA connected him to 15 populations in West Africa – with the largest percentages coming from Nigeria, Ghana, Liberia, Sierra Leone, and the Democratic Republic of Congo.

The emotional reaction surprised him, he said. He hadn’t expected the profound impact it had on him.

“These results placed my family on those slave ships,” he said. “For the first time in my 55 years of life … I now have confirmation that I have a direct connection to the Motherland. I feel like an orphan who has reconnected with his biological family.”

23andMe Helps Customer Connect to West Africa

<div id="attachment_26720" style="width: 304px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26720" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Yadira-2-294x300.jpg" alt="" class="wp-image-26720 size-medium" width="294" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Yadira-2-294x300.jpg 294w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Yadira-2.jpg 618w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 294px) 100vw, 294px" />Yadira Riveria in an undated photo.</div>
Yadira Rivera, a strong independent woman, always told her three young children about the daughter she gave up before they were born.
&nbsp;
Her children — Daniel, Marcos, and Raquel — never forgot that they had another sister out there. They remembered, even after the trauma of losing their mom. Yadira died after being struck by a police car chasing a suspect on the street in front of their home in San Francisco. They were young — 8,9 and 11 — but they remembered their mother’s reflective tone as she told them about having to give up her infant daughter.
&nbsp;
“Whenever she talked about it she got very somber,” said Daniel.
&nbsp;
They learned that Yadira had gotten pregnant at 17, and was forced to give up her baby. Daniel, Marcos, and Raquel always knew their sister was out there somewhere, they just had no idea how to find her.
&nbsp;
“We said ‘we could meet her one day and not even know it was her,’” Daniel said.
<div id="attachment_26727" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26727" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Lucianna-Her-Siblings-300x300.png" alt="" class="size-medium wp-image-26727" width="300" height="300" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Lucianna-Her-Siblings-300x300.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Lucianna-Her-Siblings-150x150.png 150w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Lucianna-Her-Siblings-271x271.png 271w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Lucianna-Her-Siblings-372x372.png 372w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Lucianna-Her-Siblings-574x574.png 574w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Lucianna-Her-Siblings.png 640w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />On the left, Lucianna, as a young girl, on the right Yadira with her children, Daniel, Raquel, and Marcos.</div>
<h6>The Search</h6>
They always hoped that somehow they might find her. Little did they know that their older sister was looking and wondering too.  

But Lucianna didn’t know she had a sister and two brothers. She was trying to find her mother.
&nbsp;
Adopted by the daughter of the nurse who delivered her as a baby, Lucianna spent years wondering about her birth mother. She didn’t start looking in earnest until about eight years ago. At that time, she found names scribbled on the back of an her adoptive grandfather’s old business card. On it were the names of her birth parents and the the aunt her birth mother lived with in San Francisco.   Lucianna hired a private investigator who found an old address, and Lucianna sent a letter there but never heard back. 

“After I sent the letter I just stopped looking,” she said.

But last year with her daughter Bianca asking more and more questions, and finally asking if they could use 23andMe to find out more about her mother’s ancestry, the search was reignited. Lucianna bought her daughter a kit as well as one for herself. Using other resources, Bianca was able to find Lucianna’s mother’s citizenship papers, divorce records and then her record of death. That last bit of information was a huge blow to Lucianna. She thought that was the end of her search.

“I had to emotionally let go,” she said, realizing that she would never get to meet her birth mom. 

<h6>Finding A Connection</h6>
<div id="attachment_26724" style="width: 310px" class="wp-caption alignright"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26724" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ms-9VJNpZ-225x300.jpeg" alt="" class="wp-image-26724" width="300" height="400" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ms-9VJNpZ-225x300.jpeg 225w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ms-9VJNpZ-768x1024.jpeg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ms-9VJNpZ-660x880.jpeg 660w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/ms-9VJNpZ.jpeg 800w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />In the foreground Raquel, with, Marcos, left, Lucianna and on the right Daniel soon after all meeting in person for the first time.</div>
But just a couple of weeks later, Bianca’s <a href="https://www.23andme.com/dna-ancestry/">23andMe</a> results came in. Bianca saw that she matched with a man named Daniel, who at first was predicted to be a close cousin. He had also posted on 23andMe that he was looking for more information about his mother’s family who had come to the United States from Nicaragua, but had since passed away. 
Lucianna, who had not initially opted into the DNA Relatives portion of 23andMe, opted in and immediately matched with Daniel, who was identified as a half brother. It was a surprise for both of them.
&nbsp;
Daniel said he hadn’t expected to find any close family when he first tested. He wanted to know more about his mother’s ancestral origins. 

“My twin girls … decided to purchase 23andMe for me as a Christmas present,” Daniel said. “I wanted more information about my Nicaraguan heritage. I had many unanswered questions, and I couldn’t go straight to the source.”
&nbsp;
Daniel said he hadn’t expected to find any close family when he first tested. He wanted to know more about his mother’s ancestral origins. 

“My twin girls … decided to purchase 23andMe for me as a Christmas present,” Daniel said. “I wanted more information about my Nicaraguan heritage. I had many unanswered questions, and I couldn’t go straight to the source.”

“She read my story and commented on how (the information about my mom) resembled her mother&#8217;s mother,” Daniel said.

Although the percentage of shared DNA indicated that Bianca might be a first cousin, Daniel noted her age, the amount of shared DNA and her Nicaraguan ancestry, and deduced that it could only mean one thing. 

“After a few more messages I told Bianca that her mother might be my sister,” he said, still a little stunned by finding his long lost sister.

&nbsp;
<h6>Meeting for the First Time</h6>
Luciana and Daniel were soon on the phone. 

“The first thing he said was ‘I’ve always known you were out there,’” Lucianna said.

Just that idea alone was affirming for Lucianna, knowing that her birth mother loved her and passed that love for her to her children.

Daniel, who was already driving to California with his wife for their 20th anniversary, decided to take a detour to Davis to meet Lucianna and her family. When they first hugged, Daniel said it felt like he was holding onto a piece of his mother.

A month later, a few days from the 40th anniversary of their mother’s death, <a href="https://www.dayton.com/lifestyles/alone-more-centerville-woman-and-family-unite-with-sister-they-always-knew-was-out-there-somewhere/hy2LK54pJtGu2z8NLjQpII/">Lucianna was in Ohio</a> with her children, visiting with Daniel, Marcos, Raquel, and all her new nieces and nephews.

“It’s been beyond belief,” said Daniel.

Lucianna looks so much like their mother that when they first hugged he didn’t want to let go. For Lucianna seeing the photos of her mother for the first time, seeing her eyes instantly connected her. Meeting and getting to know her siblings has transformed her.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Note-to-their-mom-300x169.png" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-26728" width="300" height="169" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Note-to-their-mom-300x169.png 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Note-to-their-mom.png 640w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />

”This has completely changed my life,” Lucianna said. “I am 53 years old. I feel so different. I feel rooted.”

As they gathered together one evening talking back and forth, Lucianna felt almost like they were all children again.

During the freewheeling conversation the lights kept dimming and Marcos said, ‘Oh it’s just the motion sensor,’ and Lucianna said, “No it’s mom.” 

All of Yadira’s children were finally together like they should be, like she had always wanted.

23andMe Reunites Yadira’s Family

The latest episodes of<a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-spit-29676456/"> Spit</a>, iHeartRadio’s podcast with 23andMe, includes more intelligent and raw conversations with artists, thinkers, and scientists across a variety of topics. This next batch of episodes take a different turn looking at the influence of genetics and personal experiences around emotional wellbeing, addiction, and family.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-26715" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Spit-Podcast-300x168.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="168" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Spit-Podcast-300x168.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/Spit-Podcast.jpg 512w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Hosted by the writer, comedian and cultural critic,<a href="http://baratunde.com/"> Baratunde Thurston</a>, the podcast continues to probe into the ways genetic science is changing how we see the world and the issues many of us wrestle with every day. And the show stays true to its fearless march into difficult territory with conversations that attempt to break the stigma around mental health and addiction.
<div id="attachment_26712" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26712" class="wp-image-26712 size-large" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/0022_WesandAlex_SpitPodcast_NikkiSixx-1024x682.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="682" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/0022_WesandAlex_SpitPodcast_NikkiSixx-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/0022_WesandAlex_SpitPodcast_NikkiSixx-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/0022_WesandAlex_SpitPodcast_NikkiSixx-768x512.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/0022_WesandAlex_SpitPodcast_NikkiSixx-880x587.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/0022_WesandAlex_SpitPodcast_NikkiSixx-1180x786.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/0022_WesandAlex_SpitPodcast_NikkiSixx.jpg 2000w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />Spit podcast host Baratunde Thurston, left, with addiction specialist Dr. Adi Jaffee, Ph.D., center, and Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx.</div>
<h2>All About Addiction</h2>
Baratunde’s frank discussion<a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/id1422827494"> about addiction</a> with former Mötley Crüe bassist Nikki Sixx, and Adi Jaffe, Ph.D., an addiction specialist, and author, gets personal fast. Both men share their own stories of troubled childhoods, and falling into addiction, and they hash out the many ways both nature and nurture contribute to addictions. Sixx kicked a punishing addiction to heroin while Jaffe, who also lectures at UCLA, once had drug problems of his own.
While the first part of the conversation touches on the science, Baratunde takes things deeper into the biology of addiction during the second part of this podcast by engaging with two academics from UC San Diego, School of Medicine’s Department of Psychiatry —<a href="https://profiles.ucsd.edu/Abraham.Palmer"> Abraham Palmer</a>, Ph.D., and Sandra Roige, Ph.D. Palmer and Roige have recently published papers using data from 23andMe that offered insight into addiction, most recently on<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/the-genetics-of-alcoholism/"> alcoholism</a>, and before that on something called<a href="https://blog.23andme.com/23andme-research/wait-new-genetic-research-impulsivity/"> “delay discounting”</a> — a tendency to overvalue immediate rewards over future ones, which is also associated with impulsivity and addiction. The researchers emphasize that genetics is not deterministic and environment plays a critical role in addiction, but genetics matters too. It matters not just in one’s tendency toward addiction, but also in how someone’s body reacts to alcohol or drugs, or a person’s tolerance or their inability to quit.
<h2>Mental Health Awareness</h2>
For the podcast on mental health, Baratunde sits down with<a href="https://drgailsaltz.com/"> Gail Saltz, Ph.D</a>., a professor of psychiatry and a psychoanalyst, and singer and songwriter<a href="http://www.mikeshinoda.com/"> Mike Shinoda</a> of the band<a href="https://linkinpark.com/"> Linkin Park</a>. Shinoda has become an advocate for mental health awareness after the death of his close friend and Linkin Park bandmate Chester Bennington, who died last year of an apparent suicide. Shinoda poignantly asks Dr. Saltz:
“Is there more we can do? And if so, how?”
<div id="attachment_26710" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26710" class="wp-image-26710 size-large" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/5A5A8705-1024x688.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="688" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/5A5A8705-1024x688.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/5A5A8705-300x202.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/5A5A8705-768x516.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/5A5A8705-880x591.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/5A5A8705-1180x793.jpg 1180w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />On the left, Professor Gail Saltz, PhD, with Baratunde Thurston, center, and Mike Shinoda of the band Linkin Park.</div>
During their conversation with Baratunde, Saltz and Shinoda talk about combating the stigma of mental illness, and resources for those battling depression or helping others in a mental health crisis. Together they explore some of the genetic and environmental factors that influence anxiety, depression and other behavioral issues. 23andMe has been working on a study on the genetics of<a href="https://www.23andme.com/depression-bipolar/"> major depression and bipolar disorder</a>. In August of 2016, researchers from 23andMe, Massachusetts General Hospital, and Pfizer, published<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/to-your-health/wp/2016/08/01/large-dna-study-using-23andme-data-finds-15-sites-linked-to-depression/"> a landmark study</a> on the genetic connection between genetics and depression. The study, the largest of its kind to date, identified 15 genetic regions that were linked to depression, but the work is ongoing.
<h2>We Are Family</h2>
In the podcast on family, the conversation takes a lighter turn as Baratunde poses the question of whether people would be more unified if they understood we are all “related.”
<div id="attachment_26711" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26711" class="wp-image-26711 size-large" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/KatherineTyler_DarrenCriss_SpitPodcast_2018-8831-1024x683.jpg" alt="" width="1024" height="683" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/KatherineTyler_DarrenCriss_SpitPodcast_2018-8831-1024x683.jpg 1024w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/KatherineTyler_DarrenCriss_SpitPodcast_2018-8831-300x200.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/KatherineTyler_DarrenCriss_SpitPodcast_2018-8831-768x512.jpg 768w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/KatherineTyler_DarrenCriss_SpitPodcast_2018-8831-880x587.jpg 880w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/KatherineTyler_DarrenCriss_SpitPodcast_2018-8831-1180x787.jpg 1180w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/11/KatherineTyler_DarrenCriss_SpitPodcast_2018-8831.jpg 1200w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px" />From left to right Darren Criss, his brother Chuck, writer AJ Jacobs and Spit podcast host Baratunde Thurston. Photo: Katherine Tyler for iHeartRadio</div>
For this discussion he sat down with<a href="https://ajjacobs.com/"> AJ Jacobs</a>, a humorist and the author of the book “It’s All Relative,” along with the brothers Darren and Chuck Criss of the band Computer Games. Jacobs, who is a friend of 23andMe, talked about trying to create a global family tree to illustrate how we are all related. A few years ago he helped organize a “global family reunion,” and he talked about what he saw as the talked about one moment during the event when everyone at the event and those tuning in online started singing the song, “We Are Family.”
“It was quite moving,” he said.
The Criss brothers talked about their own family, and not really connecting with their distant relatives until they were older. But they also talk about how they feel family-like connections to many of those with whom they work, connections that have nothing to do with genetics.
“We are surrounded by people in our lives we consider cousins,” said Darren. “They feel closer to us than blood family.”
You can find these or any of the<a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-spit-29676456/"> Spit</a>, podcasts at <a href="https://www.iheart.com/podcast/1119-spit-29676456/">iHeart</a>, or on <a href="https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/spit/id1422827494?mt=2">iTunes</a>.

Spit, The Next Installment

23andMe The Perfect Gift for the Holidays

Justin was only two when he was abandoned on the steps of a theater in Seoul, South Korea, while his five year-old sister, Renee, was found the next day at a market with a note in her pocket.<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/siblings-2-300x269.jpg" alt="" class="alignright size-medium wp-image-26535" width="300" height="269" srcset="https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/siblings-2-300x269.jpg 300w, https://blogcms.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/siblings-2.jpg 480w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
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&#8220;This girl is an orphan,” the note read.
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The siblings wouldn’t see each other again for 34 years, reuniting half a world away using 23andMe.
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“We matched,” <a href="https://www.oregonlive.com/pacific-northwest-news/index.ssf/2018/09/oregon_adoptees_dna_test_leads.html">Justin told at the Oregonian</a>. “Out of one in a million. Maybe even more.”
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Justin was too young to even know he had a sister, while Renee never forgot that she had a younger brother, she just never thought they would see each other again.
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Take a moment to see the siblings reunite. Make sure you have a tissue handy.
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Siblings reunite using 23andMe

By Marybie Arias, 23andMe Intern
From birth, sisters, Marsann and Marsine have always stood out, and they’ve done it together. Born premature and in each others&#8217; arms these twins shared more than just a birthday, they a deep connection to their family history.
<div id="attachment_26500" style="width: 1034px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-26500" src="https://blog-api.23andme.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/DSC_0082-1024x683.jpg" alt="" class="size-large wp-image-26500" width="1024" height="683" />Marsine (left) with her twin sister Marsann.</div>
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From an early age they were both drawn to family stories and talk of their ancestors, an interest they have been able to explore by using 23andMe’s ancestry features. 
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“We would try to hear the stories from the elders to get more information about other relatives,” said Marsann with her sister’s agreement. 
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That’s why they pulled out all the stops for a massive family reunion over the summer in Arizona. Over a weekend in late July, the sisters invited dozens of relatives — many of whom they found with the help of 23andMe ancestry features — to what can only be described as a gala reunion — complete with a red carpet, cameras, delicious food and multiple fun activities for the family. The twins spent months planning this the reunion and inviting their far-flung relatives to spend time with family. 
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“(It) really brought our family closer together, and gave the younger children some sense of connection to something greater, their identity,” said Marsine. 

The reunion was the product of years spent tracing their family history. The twins often worked using paper records, but they hit a dead end when tried to go back beyond 1850. It is something faced by many African American families trying to trace their ancestors who were sold into slavery. This dead end is what prompted the sisters to do a DNA test with 23andMe. They wanted to find additional relatives and trace their roots back to Africa. 
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Testing with 23andMe, and using the DNA Relatives tool, also offered the twins new family connections, and they got a few additional surprises along the way. 
They discovered that their grandmother was half Native American and half European, something they didn’t know. The sisters speculated that their grandmother likely hid her European ancestry in part because she married an African American man and in Alabama at that time, mixed marriages were not only illegal, but it could also put one’s life in danger. 
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Along with the shocking ancestry results, the twins matched with more than 1000 close and distant relatives on 23andMe DNA Relative tool. But the sisters went a step further than just matching with relatives through 23andMe, they insisted wanted more proof that they were related, using paper records when they could find them or taping their mother. And once they made confirmations, they often took steps to meet the newly found family members. 
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Just to keep track and stay in touch Marsine started a facebook group page for family members they found using 23andMe DNA Relatives too! Now the group has more than 175 members. 
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Bringing this sprawling family together for the reunion was the culmination of all their work, and it connected everyone to their family’s rich history.
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Fresh off the success of one reunion, the twins are already planning on another — this one in Dallas in 2020. By then the sisters hope to have a few more family members and more stories to share.
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“By the next reunion, we will have some new faces to invite and introduce to the lesser known side of their family at that event,” said Marsine.
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Marybie is a 23andMe summer intern and a second-year student at Foothill College in Los Altos Hills. She plans to transfer to the University of California at Berkeley or Santa Clara University next year and hopes to major in Business Administration.

Stories — Page 9