Join us for our newest, member requested, peer support group! Keep reading to see if this group is right for you:
"Am I a good fit for this group?"
If you have either found family using commercial DNA testing or been found by family who used commercial DNA testing (examples of commercial DNA testing are Ancestry.com, Family Tree DNA, 23&Me, My Heritage...) then this is the group for you. You do not need to have an adoption connection, but you do need to have a DNA discovery for this group to be relevant to you. Examples include individuals with a known connection to adoption such as birth/first parents, adoptees, donor conceived individuals; unexpected parentage results among those not adopted such as unknown child discovery, unexpected niece, nephew or cousin discovery, individuals discovering they are donor conceived or adopted (late discovery adoptees); anyone who has who found unknown siblings. international adoptees connecting to family including cousins, grandparent discoveries, and the many other scenarios that are surprising folks today.
"Why is this group needed?"
Finding family, or being found - whether you are looking or not - is a major life event. It can upend long held beliefs about ourselves and challenge the very things that make us feel like, well..., us. Things like parentage, ethnicity, religion, birth order, just to name a few. There are also a myriad of reactions from those who have either unexpectedly found us or that we have found them. Sometimes those reactions are not what we had hoped for, or what we expected. It can all be very overwhelming. This group will focus on supporting each other during and after such DNA discoveries.
"What is the scope of this group?"
This peer support group is not meant to replace conventional therapy, but rather serve as an additional support on your personal journey to integrate your DNA findings into your life. Through listening and sharing with your peers, the hope is you will get the support you need to face the challenges that your DNA discoveries have presented. Though this group is not specifically designed to teach genetic genealogy techniques (family tree research using DNA), you will learn what has worked for others in expanding their trees and making progress in their searches.
Zoom Meeting Invitation:
Topic: DNA Discovery Peer Support Group
Time: Second Thursday of the month, 7:00 PM Central Time (US and Canada)
