Do it yourself genetic ancestry

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Came across an ad for a genetic ancestry kit which can be bought in Canada at either Best Buy (a big box electronics store) or The Bay (retail division of The Hudson's Bay Company - North America's oldest corporation, it has been around since 1670).

The kit allows you to trace your maternal and paternal (males only) genetic lineage. It retails for $120 for one lineage, $240 for both.

I am not really interested in my ancestry - I don't know them, they don't know me.

I am more interested in progeny, though.

A few weeks back, I was listening to a series of programs on the CBC Radio program Ideas about children begotten through anonymous sperm donations. Apparently they have all the issues of adopted children of wanting to know who their biological father was, etc.

The narrator was saying how some men might have tens, maybe even hundreds of offspring. I thought was just plain silly and irresponsible.

But when the narrator said that some men might even have thousands of offspring, then I became interested. An image of being surrounded by a sea of thousands of my own offspring, white and mixed race, was very exciting to me. There was a very strong sense of comfort in that image.

While most sperm donors don't want to know about or have any contact with their offspring, were I one, I would most definitely want to know about my kids.

Comments

CG said…
I was once interested in purchasing a similar kit, to find out where I come from, but I changed my mind at the end. The sperm donor thing sounds curious, how would you deal with thousand kids of yours?
December 13, 2007 7:01 PM
Richard said…
carra: I'd hug and kiss all of them.
December 13, 2007 8:51 PM
x said…
haha to the prior comments.

interesting box, but i can trace my line up to my great, great grandparents. thank you.

it's weird, though, sometimes to learn that you're related to corrupt politicians and local celebrities and strange individuals... sometimes i wish i didn't have such a clannish clan. lol.
December 14, 2007 1:49 AM
Anonymous said…
There is a discussion about donors anonymity in Norway too. We think in the end, the interest of the child comes first, so therefore you can't deliver your sperms anonymously in Norway.
That might prevent men from getting thousands of children too and so it might be a good thing :-)

www.terella.no
December 14, 2007 4:34 AM
Richard said…
acey: before my mother died, she was tracing out our ancestral tree. I am not sure how far back she got - definitely as far as great grandparents. I don't come from a big family, so there isn't much to trace.

I am not interested in my past or my potential blood relatives. I am interested in the relationships with people I do have - whether they are blood or not.

rennyba: it seems that if there is an issue in one part of the world, it is an issue in other parts as well. Probably because people are pretty much similar and tend to have similar issues.
December 14, 2007 12:27 PM
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