DNA – A Modern Miracle
This month we celebrate the New Year with news of a
thrilling find! Last year my grandson, Adam Bradshaw, agreed to submit
his DNA to Ancestry.
Almost immediately after his test results were
revealed, I was contacted by a close match (799 cMs across 28 segments
per Ancestry) which translated to the equivalent of a first cousin. Soon
after this match and I began texting, it became apparent she was not
merely Adam’s first cousin – she was his AUNT!
Our initial texts resulted in an exchange of not
only information but a picture of her biological father – my first
husband and the father of my two children. This story is heart-warming
and spans not only a continent but a world-wide connection.
DNA is a complex science. It lies at the epicenter of
creation. It contains the very blueprint for every lifeform, be it
animal, vegetable, or mineral. The unraveling of the codes contained in
the DNA strands has taken millennia to discover and decades to
comprehend. Many scientists have diverted their original scope of study
to concentrate wholly on the mysteries of DNA. And with each new day,
more of the secrets of creation are brought to light.
In prior columns, your author has sought to grasp a bit
of understanding of DNA while documenting that struggle for our readers
as well. Our own journey to utilize DNA in genealogical research
arose, primarily, as a means to break down brick walls in our direct
lines of ancestry. For it has only been in recent decades that anyone
other than royalty had the luxury of knowing and tracking their long
lines of ancestors. It was essential to royal heirs to prove their
“fitness” for reign; therefore, exhaustive measures were taken to use
the priceless inks and parchments (or stones, in the case of the really
ancient, such as the pharaohs) to document the pairings of those in
power and the sequence of births of their offspring.
Typically, in most civilizations, it was the eldest
MALE descendant who inherited all: the right to rule, the real property,
the treasure troves, the slaves, the beasts and pastures – everything.
In those rare groups dedicated to a matriarchal rule, the only males
granted power were those chosen by the ruling FEMALE of the tribe.
Matriarchal societies were most common among the aboriginal or Tibetan
tribes. In the modern world, only about six areas are known to adhere
to a matrifocal or matriarchal government, where women rule and their
female heirs are the only ones permitted to succeed to power. Those
exist in (1) Mosuo, near the border of Tibet in the Yunnan and Sichuan
provinces; (2) Minangkabau, of West Sumatra in Indonesia; (3) Akan, a
group comprising the majority of peoples of Ghana; (4) Bribri, a very
small group isolated in a region of Costa Rica; (5) Garo, near the Khasi
of North-East India, in the state of Meghalaya, a group of
Tibetan-Burmese peoples; and (6) the Nagovisi, an isolated island west
of New Guinea called South Bougainville. Although the ruling power in
these societies is handed down mother to daughter, woman to woman, the
balance of power is maintained by the granting of ruling authority to
specified men – usually in the realm of spiritual or military control.
It is interesting to note that early Native American
tribes on the American continents (North and South) probably adhered to
that policy as a result of their ancients having crossed the Siberian
ice thousands and thousands of years ago, then migrating ever southward
to the very tip of Tierra del Fuego.
Thus, the recordation of ancestry was reserved to those
to whom the “divine” right to power required careful notation of their
parentage. It was a tedious, costly process and required the ability to
read and write – a rare commodity in ancient times.
Thankfully, those days are behind us. Today, we have a
plethora of means by which we can track our heritage. The Internet has
been a God-send, offering access to scanned documents from – in some
cases – centuries past. With the advent of printing and scanning
technology, we now have access to millions and millions of documents
that provide a peek into the lives our ancestors led. We can see who
lived in their households, what age they were, in some cases even their
month and year of birth, their occupation, prior military service, even
the value of their personal and real property. Those clues about their
lives were predicated upon the aspect of civilization deemed most
important to the Census takers of that age – what the government needed
to know about its populace. But those bits and pieces of data collected
becomes our INFORMATION – the tool that paints the picture of our
ancestors’ lives.
And, now, we have DNA. It can track our long-lost
cousins, our biological connections in those cases where adoptions
obscured truths. For instance, after my new “step-daughter” contacted
me, I immediately checked Adam’s DNA page on Ancestry. They offer a neat
tool that helps to confirm, isolate, and identify groups of DNA-linked
relatives. You click on the closest “cousinship” (cousins comprise the
mass of relationships for all of us – the offspring of the siblings in
each generation of our direct line ancestors are our cousins), and then
select Matches. This brings up a secondary group that reveals how that
close “cousin” is related to others whose DNA matches both your DNA and
the just-revealed “cousin”. In some cases, the Matches will direct you
to known relationships – a matter of confirmation of the profiles in
your family tree. But, when you are seeking the mystery person, these
Matches can lead you to clues that may reveal the previously unknown.
In this case, our newly located relative – my new
daughter – had done her homework as well and had located the biological
paternal line for my first husband. The man whose DNA now appears in the
strands shared by Adam, by my daughter Melissa, and now shown to be
shared by our precious Anne. We have a name. We have DNA proof that
this man was the donor whose parentage “begot” my first husband.
The story is a complex one – one deserving of not just a
column, but a book which I am prompted to write. For my first husband
was a world traveler. A handsome and talented man with a gift for
languages and a love of the exotic. His unfortunate personal story was
one of “knowing” he was adopted but being told he was the biological
child of a duo who were not even acquainted at the time of his birth.
He sought the proof for all the years we were together and, I can only
assume, in the years up to his recent death. An avid fan of Ancestry’s
two television series (Long Lost Family and Who Do You Think You Are?),
your author has seen over and over the anguish of those who feel they
“somehow” don’t fit in with their adoptive families, even when those
families offer complete love and nurture. It is an inherent need for
humans to KNOW who they are, where they come from, who their parents and
grandparents are, their history. That need was both an unsatisfied
seeking for my first husband and his driving psychological impetus.
Coupled with his seeking of love and belonging was the unsettling
knowledge that his mother had not been honest with him. That, throughout
his life, she had claimed a truth that was a lie: that she was his
biological mother. It damaged his relationship not only with her, but
with every woman with whom he sought love thereafter.
From a time shortly after our marriage, knowledge of my
first husband’s prior family revealed the existence of two darling
little girls. As my journey into genealogy became not only an
occasional seeking but a driving passion, my daughter Melissa and I
began trying to find those two half-sisters. Eventually, through
research online, we were able to make contact with the eldest of those
two girls, Kathy Mae. She was thrilled and advised us she had been
trying to find her sister, Melissa, ever since she learned of her
existence – when she herself was but 18 years of age. Through Kathy, we
were introduced to her younger sister, Diane. These two girls – now
women – welcomed their sister with open arms. We lost Kathy Mae several
years ago to colon cancer, sadly. But, Diane and Melissa continue to be
loving siblings, exchanging phone calls, text messages to this day.
Briefly, Melissa lived in Florida and she and Diane met. It was a
shocking thing to them both, for they found themselves “looking into a
mirror.” My grandson remarked he could not tell which one was speaking
until he saw their mouths moving, for they sounded so much alike. I,
too, experienced that when they called me and exchanged the phone
several times, confusing me as to which one was speaking.
Now, we have another sister, Anne, whose story is an
amazing one. After she was born, her mother (a native Costa Rican wed
to a Finnish native), moved to Finland, relocating a very young Anne to
that country. Anne was brought up there, mastering a third language in
the process. She is now wed to a man whose origins derive from
neighboring Turkey. Together they have two adorable children, one boy
and one girl. Once again, the dramatic comparison of their appearance
beggars belief. My first look at Anne’s pics made me gasp, for they
were eerily like seeing my own Melissa at that age!
The puzzle in all this, is that Melissa and I were
always told how much we favor. Now, three half-sisters by two different
mothers also favor. It brings me to the conclusion that my first
husband somehow had buried in his genetic “memory” a picture of his own
biological mother – a woman he must have sought, found, and wed over and
over, recreating her genetic appearance in his own daughters. For our
readers’ benefit, I offer photographs of the sisters and myself
(granted, a MUCH younger self) for your own comparison.
Top pics: Left - the late Kathy Bradshaw Kaumalatsos; Right - Kathy's sister Diane Christian;
Third
pic - Anne Bulut half-sister to other three; Fourth pic - Melissa
Bradshaw half-sister to other three; Fifth pic - Your author, Melinda.
| 1: Kathy; 2: Diane |
  |
| 3: Anne Bulut; 4t: Melissa |
  |
| For comparison with the sisters, here is a much younger pic of myself |
 |
Now, the blessing and the miracle comes full circle.
Anne, her husband, and their two small children plan to visit us in this
New Year. Travelling around the world to greet, hug, love, and enjoy
full contact with her biological sister – her near-twin. A twin whose
own daughter shares Anne’s birthday, but is two years younger. Imagine!
A sister two years the senior of one’s own daughter. Amazing.
To all my readers, Happy New Year! Use all that is
available to you to research your own family – learn about your
heritage. Remember, now you can do that from the comfort of your own
home via
Armchair Genealogy.
Click on author's byline for bio and list of other works published by Pencil Stubs Online.
Posts
