Results Are In

Okay, I got my DNA results. Actually, in keeping with honesty and everything I had them a couple of weeks ago and so much going on with my daughter and processing what has occurred and everything, it has taken me a bit to get my mind right for writing this post. I will start with the ethnicity part and move on from there. So here it goes:

49% Great Britain-Which includes England, Scotland and Wales. Also included is Ireland, France, Germany, Denmark, Belgium, Netherlands, Switzerland, Austria, and Italy.

16% Europe West-Which includes Belgium, France, Germany, Netherlands, Switzerland, Luxembourg, and Liechtenstein. Also included is England, Denmark, Italy, Slovenia, and Czech Republic.

12% Ireland- Which includes Ireland, Scotland, and Wales. Also included is France and England.

10% Italy/Greece- Which includes Italy and Greece. Also included is France, Switzerland, Portugal, Spain, Serbia, Hungary, Bulgaria, Austria, Croatia, Bosnia, Romania, Turkey, Slovenia, Algeria, Tunisia, Montenegro, Albania, Macedonia, and Kosovo.

The lettering in blue is where the ethnicity is primarily located. The green is the also found in places.

So, looking at this, now I know what mix I am. It is very interesting because my husband is 75% Irish. And so am I, well 12% of me anyway. All of this is so interesting, but the best and strangest is yet to come! So Ancestry says that once you do the DNA test that it is possible to match you genetically with a 1-4 cousin. I had 1 first cousin match and a few second cousin matches and a slew of 4 and distant cousin matches.

I made contact with one of the first cousin matches and we are currently trying to figure out if she is in my father’s line or my mother’s. It is interesting and amazing and emotional. I now know that I am no longer in this world alone. I have biological family. So, now we are waiting on some other things to be done on another site to see more in depth what my DNA holds.

I am not sure what will come from all this, but one thing is for sure, if all I find is cousins, I am okay with that.

-Ciao!

Something I Thought About but Kind of Discounted

I couple of weeks ago, I had asked a question on an Ancestry.com video on YouTube Not really expecting the answer I got today though. Apparently, it is possible to connect to a third cousin or closer via my DNA test. My mind is all a mess right now. Do I pursue this? Do I let sleeping dogs lie? What if my biological family does not want to know me? All these questions and about a million more swirling around in my brain at the moment.

I am still waiting on my results so nothing I can do at the moment, but honestly I am kinda freaking out. For me, this started out as an ethnicity search and now has the possibility to become biological family found. Do I want to find biological family? Hell yeah, I have so many questions. I don’t want to be hurt or have my kids hurt though and that is becoming a very real possibility. I am excited and scared at the same time. My brain is swirling with all the possibilities. Now, I need to sit and really think about if I want to take the next step in all this.

Waiting Not So Patiently

I got an email from Ancestry.com yesterday and it let me know that my DNA sample was in the lab finally and that I should have my results in about 3-5 weeks from that point. I was excited about this! I honestly have no expectations because I have no idea what to expect with the ethnicity breakdown. According to them, they could possibly connect you to a 3rd cousin via DNA match. For someone who knows nothing about her family I can’t even begin to explain how exciting that would be for me!

When I had my son, he was the first blood relative that I had contact with. Think about that for a minute. Most people take for granted that they know their family and blood relations. I have never know anyone blood related until my son was born. I know that sounds incredibly strange and I have gotten some very strange reactions when I actually say that out loud to someone. Like they can not believe that I never looked for my bio parents.

It is not that I do not want to look, but for many years my adoptive mother was against me looking for them. She felt that it was a betrayal of her if I looked. I did not agree with that, but still I did not look. Honestly, I did not feel like fighting over it. When I moved away and severed ties with my adoptive mom, I signed up on a few adoption message boards and nothing really ever came of it. I had looked into hiring a detective to look for my bio mom, but because in the 70’s my adoption was closed, I do not have much information and it was extremely expensive. I did write to the children’s services that I was adopted through but apparently they had a major fire a year or so after my adoption and they lost all the records of the time. So a dead end. I did learn that my bio mom never named me.

That fact hit me in the gut hard because I never expected that. My bio mom was 17 when I was born, so I get why I was put up for adoption. I am guessing she was not married and even in the 70’s a child out of wedlock was still frowned upon. Since my bio mother never named me, when I was put into foster care, my foster mother (who ever she was) named me Christine, because as she wrote in her letter to my adoptive parents, she had to name me something. Her letter was not signed. So, every turn I have taken has ended up a dead end. I am hoping that finding out some information about me, will satisfy my need to know where I came from.

At least some information will be a good thing and maybe it will lead me to a distant relation. That in itself is exciting. Yeah, there is a potential for disappointment, but again with no expectations, I can not be too disappointed. Well, it is lunch time and my family insists on eating..

-Ciao!

Introductions Are In Order

I am Tawnya and I am adopted. I know this sounds like some cheesy support group opening, but I assure you it is not. All of my life I have wondered where I came from and who my biological parents were. Let me be clear, while my adoptive parents and I have issues, they were as loving and giving as they could possibly be given who they are and were. This is not to trash them, but rather to document my search for my roots, as it were.

No, I do not think I am royalty or related to some famous figure in history, but hey if it turns out that I am, I will definitely take that! I am mostly doing this for my children. See, I have no information to give them. My husband can say he is Irish and other ethnicities and I am over here like, oh I am … ME! So, this began as a way to figure out who I am ethnically, if you will. When my kids are old enough to understand, I will give them the link to this and let them read it and ask any questions as kids will do..

For now, this is for me. I have two beautiful kids, a boy and girl. I am married to a wonderful man. I am happy. I am not looking to shame anyone into admitting they put me up for adoption or anything. I am looking for me. I have done the DNA test from Ancestry.com already and I am currently waiting for my results. I would love to say patiently waiting, but who am I kidding?!?

Well, I am off to play with the kiddos and spend some time with hubby.

-Ciao!