Many people today are curious about their DNA, and are in search of more information. There are various reasons for this uptick in consumers ordering these tests. For starters, these companies are becoming more widely known through advertising and word of mouth, and the pricing, even though still steep, are becoming more competitive. Someone might choose to go with the popular 23&Me or Ancestry.com to get a run down of both the good and the bad about themselves. But, what do people do with the information they are given? From there, companies such as Genetic Genie and/or Promethease can take the information received from these companies and go into further detail about individual SNPs or mutations and give further recommendations. But, then what? I wanted to know what consumers do when given genetic information that they were not expecting? I researched my home state of Texas, and found that a growing number of people here and world wide are finding out family secrets that have made them question who they are as a person, and what the word "family" really means. The article refers to this new information as "Pandora's Box." Because once this information is shared, it is impossible to put it back in and just pretend nothing changed. For instance, a woman in Houston realized that her DNA did not match that of her siblings. She was the fifth child born, and did not share many of the same characteristics. Now she knows why. Her father that raised her was not her biological dad. It rocked her world so much that she started a new Facebook group from her home in Houston, and named it "NPE Friends Fellowship." "NPE" stands for "Not Parent Expected," and is the new term coined by those that study DNA given to those people who find out they are not blood kin to one or both parents. She thought she was alone in the world, and was surprised to see that this happens to many people. She was going to be happy if twelve people joined. Imagine her surprise that the group is now almost 5,000 and adding 100 new people every week. Of course, everyone has their different story, and many people will never know the reason for this secret. But, for this Houston woman, she was able to find out that her parents asked for help in conceiving her at a fertility clinic, and at the time they would mix the father's sperm with another in hopes of fertility success. In this way, they felt like the father would feel like the child was his since, at the time, there was not a good way to know the truth. She has written a book, Inheritance, about her ordeal and where it has lead. She did find her biological father and was amazed at how they connected in a way that she and her father never did. Yet, family ties can be strong even when blood is not involved. Her aunt hugged her and told her that she wasn't letting go of her. So instead of losing family, in this case, she simply gained more family. Her warning for people is to be prepared, and to be sure you truly want to know the information you are asking for. This trend isn't going anywhere in the near future. It is going to be more widely used and consumers will be having to make choices based on the information presented. The business trend of earning money based off these findings will be found in self-help books, potential movie plots, new TV series (Almost Family being aired in October is a prime example,) advertising, supplements/vitamins, blog advertising, therapy sessions, groups/clubs, court cases, etc. So, go call your parents and tell them how much you love them...or shall we even call them that?

https://www.wfaa.com/article/news/dna-test-kits-and-the-texas-woman-offering-support-to-the-thousands-receiving-life-altering-results/287-19e70a63-e885-43eb-9f9f-b9f5c7dc3176