The most common application for DNA testing is paternity testing. Single mothers who apply for financial aid under the "Aid to Families with Dependent Children" are required to name the alleged father; however, the naming of a man as the father is not sufficient; proof is required. DNA paternity testing can furnish the proof both ways. In 1996, it is estimated that 250,000 paternity tests were made. The number grows with the advertising by the laboratories, increased public awareness, and improvement in the techniques and acceptance of DNA technology in courts. Usually, no other test is as convincing. Some immigration cases, involving a claim to citizenship, have been decided by DNA testing.
THE COMMITMENT TO REQUEST A DNA TEST ON A FAMILY RELATIONSHIP IS CHALLENGING, BECAUSE AN OUTCOME MAY NOT BE THE PREDICTED ONE.
I am using a small book, " How to DNA Test Our Family Relationships? ", by Terrence Carmichael and Alexander Kuklin. I am sure there are other books on the subject that can be used by the layman. The authors cite an example of how a result of the testing can be unnerving.
Henry Stanley, 45 years, was a dedicated genealogist with five siblings. Henry had even published a book on the Stanley Family, the results of his investigations. He had suspicions that he and his five siblings might not all have the same father. He convinced two sisters and his mother to participate. While waiting a few weeks for the test results, Henry talked to his mother, who admitted that the 6 children (Henry and his 5 siblings) might not have the same father. Henry sought a known Stanley descendant and found that the known Stanley descendant and Henry probably did not share the same ancestors! Henry wanted then to make a test directly with his father who had been dead for five years. While Henry was debating whether to exhume his "father", his mother admitted that it was possible that none of her children had been sired by her husband. With gentle probing, Henry found the name, Bob McCarthy, of the potential father.
Unfortunately, Bob McCarthy had died but he had left known sons. Bob McCarthy, Jr., agreed to participate in the testing. The tests were positive, in the sense that there was no question that Henry Stanley was a half-sibling of Bob McCarthy, Jr. The net result is that Henry Stanley has started work on a new genealogy of the McCarthy family. (Henry is not really a STANLY - he is a McCARTHY! GWD )
There are several questions that must examined before a DNA test is considered. Do we understand completely what is involved in such tests, and the possible outcomes? Will the test benefit me? Can I keep my existing family relationships?
Though I seem to be going astray from the Germanna Colonies, DNA testing will become more routine in genealogy studies in the future. It won't hurt us to start thinking about it, even if we do not expect to employ such a test itself.
(26 Aug 02)
We gratefully acknowledge the work of John Blankenbaker who published over 2,500 Germanna History Notes via the Germanna-L@rootsweb.com email list from 1997 to 2008. We are equally thankful to George Durman (Sgt. George) for hosting the list and republishing the notes via rootsweb.com.