Procreation, by its very nature, implicates human sexuality; mysterious alluring -and sometimes illicit- sexuality. From time to time, people encounter the unexpected consequences of such procreative sexuality when searching for their ancestry. These days, with the assistance of genetic genealogy, family trees have come into much more detailed view.

Technological advances in genetic genealogy over the past decade have enabled genealogists to complete the branches of a family tree that were heretofore concealed. Sometimes those branches contain unwanted, even horrific, truths. Because procreation sometimes leads to court-admissible evidence of criminal conduct, law enforcement has long-realized the identification potential of the commercial databases. Genetic genealogy has become an all-purpose de-anonymizer.

How it Works

Genetic genealogy resulted from the proliferation of DNA testing and profiling. Ever-larger private DNA databases allowed genealogists to more thoroughly chart family networks. Genealogists now use DNA like NASA uses ever-more-sophisticated telescopes, to look far back into the paternal and matrilineal lines of a person's ancestry.

Genealogy enthusiasts readily submit to Y-chromosome and mitochondrial testing that results in a highly-defined family tree. Are the privacy rights of the members of that family tree violated by those test results that they did not request?

When you combine genetic genealogy with forensic genealogy, there is nary a soul on the planet who would remain unidentified so long as that person's DNA was available for analysis. Theoretically, the line of paternity of an unknown individual can be established using the latest DNA technology.

Until recent years, the national law enforcement database was limited to convicted offenders; if someone committed a horrible crime leaving DNA evidence at the crime scene, they could not be identified through the FBI's database unless they were a convicted criminal with DNA on file.

Where genetic genealogy comes into play is when law enforcement gains access to the private DNA genealogy databases to ascertain the identify of family members and other predominant biogenetic markers of suspects. Now, the data pool is broadened far beyond the convicted criminal population. This vastly improves the forensic identification process and has resulted in some spectacular cold-case convictions.

Just as a cold-case defendant eschews forensic identification, sometimes family members do not welcome the "clarification" DNA tests bring to the family tree. DNA tests can roil the family waters. More than a few times in my law practice, the inconvenient truth erupting from an unwanted DNA test has resulted in the termination of a marriage.

The Three-Quarter Sibling

For example, the whole concept of the three quarter sibling and its correlation with illicit sexual liaisons. We all understand half-siblings; these occur when the parents of one set of children separate and have children with other people. Half-siblings and step-siblings are ubiquitous in contemporary society.

Three-quarter siblings are different. There are two ways to produce three-quarter siblings: two sisters each give birth to children with the same father; or when brothers each sire children with the same woman.

Such circumstances could lead to cover-ups, fake paternity and faux maternity. The lies we tell ourselves can be foundational in such cases. In the genetic genealogy realm, an unsuspecting family member-malfeasant can be outed as having a direct -albeit concealed- paternity or maternity when another family member becomes curious about the family tree and submits a DNA sample.

Adoptees

Another area of law impacted by genetic genealogy is adoption. When adoptees come looking for their biological parents, genetic genealogy can be a powerful tool in this often-convoluted process. Privacy interests are also implicated.

When a woman puts her child up for adoption, she may wish to preserve her privacy; forever. Does an adult child's right to ascertain the identity of their birth parents outweigh a mother's right to privacy in the adoption process? Genetic genealogy has the potential to circumvent privacy barriers, laying family data bare for all to see.

Technology allows genealogists to track down the birth parents by comparing DNA samples against a very large and growing body of data; patterns are discovered that lead to match-based identifications. An adoptee's paternity is revealed with the aid of a genealogist, known as a "search angel". When the genealogist identifies a pattern, the family tree can then be traced backward, filling-in descendants to the present day.

Persons of Interest

Because genetic genealogy captures the living within its nets, identification by law enforcement is one of the functions of the technology. Genealogists have been involved in several spectacular cold case resolutions using the recently developed genetic genealogy to match DNA samples with a perpetrator.

DNA taken from a crime scene can now be compared to the law enforcement and private databases to glean a genetic pattern. With that information, a suspect pool sometimes arises. Location, general characteristics, and eventually, a complete identification can be established through the DNA.

Genetic Testing Company Links

Here are some companies that offer genetic testing services at reasonable fees. These companies are the source of the private DNA database. Some are in the process of modifying their user agreements. The old "default" was the election of shared data; the new "default" position is in favor of customers' privacy. Under the new default settings, law enforcement will need a search warrant to access the genetic data.

FamilyTreeDNA

23andMe

GEDmatch