The Lost Family

Fabulous story of “How DNA Testing is Upending Who We Are”. Copeland weaves a narrative for the lay person encompassing the history of DNA testing with stories to show the good, the bad and the ugly about it. It is a fascinating read, especially as Copeland spends the most time on the genealogical aspect of it and the ramifications of disclosure.

Astounding. This is absolutely critical reading for those who have either already bought an at-home DNA testing kit or who are considering buying one. Copeland does an excellent job showing the beginnings of this relatively new industry, its promises, its pitfalls, and the numerous concerns and issues surrounding so much of it. Read this book before you buy such a kit, and carefully consider the issues Copeland discusses and whether you are truly ready to handle them if they arise. Very much recommended.

“How was Pam to reconcile her new identity when she'd lived so long with an old one? She was of her father. And now her father was someone else.”
—Libby Copeland, The Lost Family

“We are all, of course, children of whims, and we've always known this to be true. Long before the DNA age brought to light tales of one-night-stands and donor-sperm-swaps, and the mix-up of two babies in a hospital. We are whims of our mothers deciding to attend a certain dinner party and meeting our fathers. We are whims of the sperm cell that beat out millions of other sperm cells to reach our mother's egg.
“And, as we come into being, we are still whims—of childhood accidents, and the precise locations of the houses we grew up in, of a college admissions officer, of an email never opened, of a drunk driver we never saw coming. As destabilizing as it is to admit, life is just one grand unfolding of accidents.”
—Libby Copeland, The Lost Family

Required reading for adoptees and “non-paternity events” (NPEs).